The Magical Land of Cosmosera
by ExArchmagus
Summary: AU fic. In the Magical Land of Cosmosera there exists Skelyets and Auilyets; non-magical and magical folk. Cagalli, the young Princess of the Kingdom of Light, ORB, is a Skelyet while her twin brother and all her friends each have their own magical powers. How will the young Princess deal with her life as a mysterious darkness descends upon her Kingdom? R&R. Pairings come in time.
1. Darkness in the Land of Light

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED/Gundam Seed Destiny

'Content' = thought

"Content" = speech

Just as some people prefer to spell Stella 'Stellar' or Athrun 'Asuran', I prefer to call Athha 'Attha'... I can just type it better and I like the sound better. If that's such a crippling problem that you have to write a review for the sole purpose of pointing out something as trivial as that, then deal with it.

* * *

In a place beyond our own imagining, beyond our own sense of time and space, there was a planet known as Cosmosera, a world of magic; of arcane enchantments, holy blessings, fiery incantations, icy conjugations, natural rituals and dark curses. The world of Cosmosera was in fact a land of kingdoms, one of which was known as ORB, the Kingdom of Light, where the sun shone brightly. ORB was a moderately sized kingdom that sat on the east coast of the Glistening Ocean. The land itself was shaped like a massive country sized jagged edged trapezoid, with the shorter end facing the ocean, and the larger side facing a massive rock formation known as the Dividing ridge, a series of enormous mountains that separated ORB from the nation on the other side of it, due to differences... differences that will be discussed when the time comes. To the north of ORB was the Penumbral Woods, a dark forest, where light barely made it through the upper layers of the forest's roof, even on the hottest, most clear skies. If one ever wished to pass through this deadly arrangement of trees, then they themselves would need to be a being of magical strength, in addition to having a lot of luck too. To the south of ORB was the Burning Dunes, a vast desert that stretched on for a long way, and was an area that one could not hope to enter and make their way through without some exceedingly powerful ice magic. While there were routes that lead from ORB into the Penumbral Woods and Burning Dunes, they were not for the faint hearted, and because of this ORB received most of it's trading goods by ship from the Glistening Ocean.

Cosmosera was a land of mystical powers, although some people did not posses any powers at all, and were called Skelyets. Magic users, or to call them by the proper term, Auilyets, were people who possessed... well magical powers, depending on what kind of Auilyet they were. Each Auilyet possessed a weapon known as a Gunram, a symbol of their power and something that they could call upon or conjuror whenever they needed it, but by no means was necessary for regular spell casting by most Auilyets. ORB itself was a country that was populated by three distinct types of Auilyets: Mages, Paladins, and Vindicators.

Mages were powerful spell casters, capable of all sorts of incantations and focusing on the arts of the arcane, frost, and fire. Intelligent and knowledgeable, these beings adorned themselves with intricate robes made of a variety of materials and carried a spell book around with them, known as an Arcane Tome. Although they mostly focused on ranged combat they were also trained in the art of close combat for when it was needed.

Paladins were the warriors of the light. They were righteous and holy beings, and had a very strong sense of right and wrong, and as such, detested the word darkness, and held a deep contempt for those who would practice it. They wore thick armor made of the strongest metals and practiced holy magic, and got in close and personal when they battled.

Vindicators were almost a cross between both the Mage and the paladin. They were a spell caster who lobed powerful prayers based in light magic at both their enemies for the sake of burning them with righteous fire, or at their friends for the purpose of healing them with cleansing light. Like Mages they wore rainments of cloth and held a magic book, known as a Libram and like all Auilyets had their own signature weapon in the form of a Gunram.

* * *

The current King of ORB was a man known as King Uzumi Nara Attha III, the Lion. A ruler of around the forty sixth year of his life, the man was signified by his long, dark gray hair and dark eyes, as well as his uncompromising stance on some issues and an absolute abhorrence towards dark magic and it's users, as reflected by ORB's complete and total lack of them. At the same time Uzumi wielded strong holy magics and was a very skilled Vindicator in his own right. Despite this he was also a loving father of two twin heirs, a Prince and a Princess.

Kira Gos Attha, Uzumi's son and Crown Prince, was a Magus of extreme magical power in the form of ice magics. As the top of his class in the Academy of the Arcanytim, the school for Mages, Kira was known to all as the Frozen Blade, although that's not to say his heart was extremely warm on the inside, especially when it came to his twin.

Cagalli Yula Attha, the Princess, was an exceedingly beautiful girl, yet at the same time, the very anti-thesis of what her father would expect of a Princess. Possessing a tomboyish attitude she is quite rebellious and stubborn sometimes, and despite the skills that her father and brother posses, she is a Skelyet; one with no magical power... although some of the nobility think her persona is a result of her non-magical nature coupled with her habit of hanging out with Auilyets her age. This is her story. It is a tale of a girl raised as a Skelyet in an Auilyet's world, and how she will uncover the inconvenient truth about herself, and her family.

* * *

As the sun rays break through the clouds they descend upon the Kingdom of Light, or more specifically, a large field in the north of the land, a group of young adults gather in lush, green grass. Sitting with two other females is Cagalli, a girl with short blonde hair and golden hazel eyes of around seventeen years of age. She is resting on the ground with her hands behind her body, her palms being used as struts as she looks up into the light blue sky occupied by a couple of small blue clouds, the light breeze in the air catching her hair and blowing it behind her body. She is wearing a bright red shirt with short sleeves and light gray pants. Tilting her head down she looks out into the distance at a group of figures running around in each other, performing some sort of activity which like the figures themselves, cannot be discerned from this distance.

"Huh..." She sighed a little. 'I wonder when they'll stop joking around...' She thinks to herself, trying to find one particular person in the group, her hazel pupils scanning the area in front of her as she is quickly forced to pull her head back as what appeared to be a slight fiery spark flashes about a foot in front of her body for a split second, startling her. "HEY!" She frowned, turning to her right and looking at the one responsible for creating the spark; a girl with dark red, shoulder length hair and gray eyes.

"Hehe..." Flay Allster, a girl dressed in a white t-shirt and light red shorts giggled. "Just trying to get your attention, Cagalli. Shouldn't get mad, it was just a harmless spark... wouldn't hurt you, even from that distance. Wanna see again?" She smirked slightly and spoke in a somewhat spoiled manner, raising her right hand up into the air although not stretching it out as a small little flame erupted from the palm of her hand, her flesh clearly unharmed as she then pressed her first finger and thumb together, the flame quickly exciting like a spark, flickering out of her hand and ascending somewhat into the air before creating a vortex-like effect and then igniting a second later, small sparks exploding from it and dying before they reached the ground. "See, nothing to worry about, Cagalli." Flay said with joy, smiling at her blonde friend.

"You could have got my attention by speaking though, you know?" Cagalli responded in a tone that reflected a small amount of restrained annoyance and anger.

"I know... I still got yeah though... haha!"

"Oh, Cagalli... it's alright, she's just playing. Calm down a little." The third and final girl spoke as the blonde and red head turned to face their pinkette companion, Lacus Clyne. "I'm sure there's no harm done, right Flay?" She asked, putting her left hand in her hair and flicking it out of her face before crossing it over the white and pink blouse she was wearing.

"You were looking to see who was winning, weren't you?" Flay looked Cagalli in the eyes and asked in an innocent yet inquisitive way, junting her head forward a tad.

"Oh, and as if you weren't doing the same... right!?" Cagalli responded as Flay nodded. "Well if that's the case then who do you think I'm rooting for, eh Flay?" Cagalli asked with a slight hint of competition in her voice as the red head placed her left first finger onto her nose and thought for a second before placing both her hands out and preparing to snap them.

"Is it... your brother Kira?" Flay snapped her right hand, another tinnie winnie spark flying out and creating a 'K' in the air before combusting like before. "Or your... snookie poo..." She snapped her left the same process taking place except this time an 'A' was created. "Athrun?" The red head asked with a large, joyful grimace as Cagalli leaned back and away slightly, blushing as she did somewhat. "Hmm...?" Flay's smile widened.

"Uh... Kira... duh! Of course I'll root for my own brother!" Cagalli regained herself and spoke back at Flay. "He'll kick all their butts!" Cagalli stated as Flay made an 'um... hmm...' gesture.

"Yeah... right..." Flay said back. "We know you're wooting for your fiance... don't hide it, Cagalli."

"Oh yeah?" Cagalli asked, raising her voice somewhat as Lacus interrupted the verbal cat fight.

"Well if you two are betting on who's going to come out on top, why don't you watch?!" The pinkette said as she sat between them, the two girls looking back towards the group of figures in front of them. However, much to their displeasure, the three of them noticed the guys stop running around off in the distance and all begin to walk closer together, as if they had now reached the point of exhaustion, or were close to it collectively. Wasn't that hard to believe considering how hot ORB's sun was today.

"Aw... it seems like they stopped." Flay said in a somewhat whining tone, wishing to be entertained more.

"Meh, doesn't matter much to me. Although I think we should join them. My brother will probably cast some spell to cool down the area... and considering how hot today is..." Cagalli wiped some sweat off of her blonde brow and bangs with her left hand. "I think we should join in."

"I agree, Cagalli. Phew... it's definitely reaching a high today..." Lacus responded as the three got up and began to walk towards the silhouettes of the males.

"You were really good out there, Athrun." Nicol Amalfi, one of the younger guys with short green hair said as he tilted his head somewhat upwards as he looked at his blue haired friend.

"Well thank you, Nicol... although I gotta say Kira was just off the ball today..." Athrun Zala huff, looking at the brunette who was leading the pack. While most of the guys, which were five in all, were sweating he was not, and he didn't seem to be as exhausted. At the same time each and everyone one of them seemed to be wearing a light shirt and jeans.

"Or you guys just got burnt out easier..." Kira said as he held out his left hand wide, the sound of condensing water and freezing liquid being heard as a blue light enveloped the Prince's palm before he quickly turned around and faced the other four and swiped his hand across the front of his body, several small chunks of ice flying out before melting just as they collided with the shirts and arms of the other gentlemen.

"Awe... Kira...!" The one person in the group with glasses, Sai Argyle complained.

"Settle down, Sai, it's just a little water. I'm sure Kira meant no harm." Dearka Elsman, the last boy in the group said as they continued towards the three girls.

"I know, could have warned us first." Sai responded.

"Just a spur of the moment thing..." Kira said as he walked backwards with the rest of the group.

"I know... still... Ramius already gets on our case when we're out doing stuff like this already." Sai stated as the girls met up with them.

"Alright... that's enough nonsense out of you guys. Stop leaving us out of the action." Cagalli boldly stated with her hands on her hips as she walked in front of Kira.

"Yeah, what are you all doing just leaving us alone like that, eh?" Flay asked, tilting her head to the right in an expecting motion.

"They're just goofing off... boys will be boys..." Lacus added as Dearka raised his hands and stuck out his palms in a defensive pattern.

"Whoa... tri-girl attack team. All hands on deck and prepare for anti-girl combat..." Dearka warned as the five guys began to break out in laughter.

"Yeah, yeah... very funny you guys!" Flay barked back.

"Inviting us out here and then just messing around with each other! Completely ignoring us!" Cagalli barked. "What kind of gentlemen are you?" She asked with vigor.

"Well Cagalli, what kind of Princess are you getting all arrogant like that and wearing those clothes?" Kira asked his sister in a somewhat humorous voice, trying to pick on her.

"Ah... I know you missed me, Cagalli... here let me make it all better..." Athrun Zala motioned towards the blonde as she stepped back, the bluenette puckering his lips as she slapped him in the face, her grin one of a typical angry girl her age. As Athrun pulled back, half in shock and half expecting what happened to happen everyone else let out an 'ooooooohhhhhh...'.

"Tsk tsk... denied Athrun." Nicol commented, shaking his head horizontally.

"Just goes to show you don't mess with an angry Princess..." Nicol added neutrally.

"Oh snap, Cagalli's angry today... or maybe she's just being normal." Dearka joked, laughing in a somewhat arrogant fashion as he did.

"And don't you forget it, buster!" Cagalli shook her fist angrily at the blonde haired guy, raising one eyebrow as she did.

"Alright, alright, that's enough everyone. Chill out... or I'll make you all chill out." Kira warned in a somewhat serious tone, the rest of the group members taking him literally even though he probably wasn't trying to be on purpose. "So... what do you guys want to do next?" He asked as Flay quickly responded a half a second later.

"Go home." She said quickly.

"Huh, Flay?" Sai asked as everyone fixed their gazes upon the red haired girl.

"What's the rush? I mean we've got all day out here..." Nicol tried to say.

"I'd prefer not to get wet, actually." She pointed northwards, behind the guys and in the general direction of the Penumbral Woods, where a large dark purple and black cloud seemed to be forming, heading towards the field were the group of teens was as a somewhat alarming speed. As the rest of the cluster of kids looked towards the cloud mass their eyes collectively widened. This cloud didn't seem to be quite normal... especially for something that would be appearing in ORB, and seemed to be quite menacing and ready to burst into a full fledged thunderstorm at any moment.

"Holy cow..." Dearka stated in awe.

"I don't think I've seen a storm cloud that big in my life time... I don't think it's normal... to be honest..." Athrun stated, clenching his right fist somewhat.

"I agree. I think we should all head back now... now that I see that I feel some sort of darker... energy... we'd better head back." Lacus warned, composing herself and giving a focused look towards the crowd.

"Darker energy? We can take it! Can't we?" Cagalli asked as Kira looked at her sternly. While Kira and Athrun would probably feel pretty confident in battling whatever evil was coming their way, they knew better than to put Cagalli and the others in harms way.

"No, Cagalli... it's too dangerous." Kira responded in a demanding voice, taking charge.

"Kira!" Cagalli complained.

"Sai, Flay..." Kira looked towards the red haired female and male with short blonde hair and glasses, the two of them nodding in unison at the Frozen Blade, Kira Gos Attha. "Right then..." The three of them gathered in a circle and held hands together while the other five group members watched.

"I forget... what are they..." Cagalli whispered as she took a side near here fiance, Athrun, the blue haired teen whispering back as Kira, Sai and Flay began to close their eyes and hum something.

"Transportation portal... I think..." Athrun responded.

"They're taking us right to Ono'goro... Kira's not joking if he's doing this..." Lacus added in the same light but monotone voice.

'If only... I could feel that... power...' Cagalli thought, lowering her head as a light blue and purple ball of energy began to form between the circle and gather energy, the three still concentrating as their hands began to glow different colors. Kira's was icy blue and frosty white, Flay's was fiery red and yellow, while Sai's was purple and pink, although a darker shade of pink that Lacus' hair. After about a minute of mumbling and chanting the sound of air escaping from a vacuum began to emanate from the place of energy as Kira, Flay and Sai broke their hands and walked back, opening their eyes as they did. The ball of blue and purple energy then expanded and formed what looked like a rectangular gateway on the ground that was four feet across and seven feet high, and inside it was the blurred image of what appeared to be an ivory castle.

"Alright let's go, now." Kira ordered, a hint of urgency and authority in the last word of his statement as he stood behind the portal and the group seemed to go in one at a time, with Nicol first and then Dearka, followed by Sai, Athrun, Lacus, Flay, and then Cagalli, who hesitantly stepped inside after seeing the look on her brother's face. Just before Kira walked through the portal he looked back at the storm cloud and made a 'hmmph' sound as he did before continuing on. 'She wouldn't understand...'

* * *

Since Cagalli was a Skelyet she couldn't detect the energy from the incoming storm clouds. However, the rest of the group were all Auilyets, and because of that, they felt danger coming their way, although Athrun, Lacus, Nicol and Dearka were the most sensitive to this. Sai and Flay were in the same situation as Kira though: Not as sensitive, but still sensitive, and for good reasons.

Flay Allster was a daughter of one of ORB's noble families. Although she was Cagalli's friend she didn't know her as much as she did Kira, Flay's classmate in Mage Academy. However unlike Kira she was training to be a pyromancer; one who manipulates flames. The two knew each other and were friends... just friends.

Sai Argyle, also a close friend of Kira was an upcoming Magus and although his family wasn't exactly nobility or royalty he did manage to do well in the Academy of the Arcanytim due to his great knowledge capacity. Unlike Kira or Flay, nor was his power as great as Kira's, his base skills were more based upon the purest and arguably most primal magic of all, the Arcane.

Lacus Clyne was an orphan who was one day left outside of the doorway of the Monastery of the Light, ORB's sanctuary for those with holy magic. Lacus herself was taken in by the Monastery after demonstrating exceptional healing potential at a young age and was now a Vindicator in training.

Dearka Elsman was another ORB noble and like Lacus, was an aspiring Vindicator. However unlike Lacus Dearka didn't specialize in healing magics, he specialized in blinding and purifying his foes from a distance with righteous holy fire.

Nicol Amalfi was also a member of ORB's nobility and a student of the Monastery of the Light, like Lacus or Dearka. However unlike the two Vindicators he was a Paladin and unlike most Paladins he preferred to be a little stealthy and cunning in his methods and was sometimes called a coward for that. He didn't mind though, considering how well he did.

The last Auilyet of the group, Athrun Zala, was another Paladin in the works, and although he was yet again a noble, his family's name is worth mentioning above all others. His father was Patrick Zala, the Grand Paladin of the Monastery and one of King Uzumi Nara Attha's closest friends, as well as a loving but strict father who had high hopes for his son. These high hopes were for the most part fulfilled as Athrun, in addition to being one of the closest friends to Crown Prince Kira Gos Attha and chosen fiance to Princess Cagalli Yula Attha, excelled in his training and was considered to be above average in terms of his strength with the light.

* * *

As the dark storm from the Penumbral Woods close in on ORB, the Kingdom's bustling capital city Ono'goro is warned of the incoming potential danger. Ono'goro was the largest city in ORB although it wasn't the most economically busy. The vast majority of ORB's nobles and royals made their home in this city and it also was the center for magical education, containing both the Academy of the Arcanytim as well as the Monastery of the Light. Appearance wise the city was built around a medium sized lake known as Lake Haumae that contained an island in the middle known as Royal Hill. Everything besides King Attha's castle was located in the perimeter around the lake while the castle itself stood upon Royal Hill and was connected to the mainland by three bridges coming from three different areas of the shore. Castle Attha was a large and ivory colored palace consisting of a large circular outer area that had five medium large towers coming out of it in a way that if you were to look at it from above you would see a five pointed star pattern. Inside the outer castle was a large circular shaped courtyard filled with beautiful gardens among other things that would be in a courtyard and inside that was a large skyscraper like tower that rose up out of the ground and into the skies that was connected to the outer castle by several stone bridges at different levels and also had a massive spire at the top and one small tower jetting off of it a little. The inner castle tower was about four hundred and twenty meters tall and quite thick, while the five outer castle spires were each three hundred and fifty meters tall and not as thick, while their cone shaped roofs looked to each be made of a light blue material. As the camera closes in on one area in middle tower, we see the Kingdom's Monarch: Uzumi Nara Attha as well as some other important figures.

"What's the news on those... dark clouds coming from the north? Surely our stations near the borders should have been able to report something to us by now." The King stated as he looked off from an exposed corridor of the castle into the gap between two outer spires, a golden and gemmed crown with his nation's coat of arms on the front of it adorning his forehead and a large white and golden cape with black fur lining it dragging behind his back as he kept himself inside a set of pant and a shirt (A/N: ORB nobility/royalty wear something like the ORB military uniform from the anime) with golden shoulders.

"Yes, your majesty, we have." One of the two other figures next to Uzumi, a women with purple eyes and short black hair reported. "Although the dark clouds are giving off a powerful aura they haven't done anything besides given off a little rain, and even less thunder and lightening, yet." Natarle Badgiruel, a women holding what appeared to be large purple staff that was taller than she was with a straight and relatively unexciting but two upward facing 'wings' at the top of it with a white jewel in between then said. Wearing a robe consisting of black silk with a white, red and blue pattern on it, Natarle was the Commander of the Royal Magic Guard of ORB and a very skilled and well rounded Magus.

"We should still keep guard... there hasn't been a storm like this in a very long time and it's making my blood just boil to look at it. Err..." The third person, Patrick Zala, a male figure who seemed to be a little older than Uzumi with shorter gray hair and a slightly more wrinkled face said as he twisted his right arm somewhat, the bright golden and fiery red armor that he wore on his body clattering as he held his hands over the handle of a large two handed bronze mace with silver studs and a gold band on either side of the hammer.

"I agree, old friend. It's been far too long since something like this has happened and as much as I detest something dark like this I won't throw the entire Kingdom, or even Ono'goro into a panic because of it." Uzumi responded.

"I see... understood, your majesty, but we should still do something." Patrick stated, lowering his head.

"I concur with Grand Paladin Zala, King Attha. I'll be keeping the guards on a higher alert tonight, if that's alright with you, sir." Natarle added as Uzumi sighed.

"Yes, yes it is, Commander. Should anything happen tonight then make sure whatever it is... it's minimized. Tomorrow morning I want an investigation launched to the north just at the border to determine if anything may have happened that we became unaware of, understood?" Uzumi asked, turning to both Patrick and Natarle.

"Yes, your majesty." They both answered sternly.

"Oh... and where is my son and daughter? Patrick... has Athrun and his friend returned back yet?" Uzumi turned his body fully to face the Grand Paladin, gaining a nod.

"I've received word that my son, as well as your children and the rest of their 'gang' have returned to Ono'goro... by portal even." Patrick informed.

"I see... well if that's everything then you two are dismissed." The King ordered as the Commander picked her staff off of the floor and walked away and the Grand Paladin, with a great amount of strength, picked up his mace with one hand and walked off.

* * *

Cagalli's Room, somewhere inside the central tower of Castle Attha:

"PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME... DOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNN! ATHRUN ZALA YOU...!" Princess Cagalli Yula Attha screamed as her fiance carried her bridal style into her large bedroom, an extravagant area with a balcony and a large bed with green pillows, sheets, blankets with a red veil overhead as well as a large walk in closet and vanity.

"Shhhh... it's alright Princess. There's no reason to get your panties in a bundle, Cagalli." Athrun smirked as he walked out onto the balcony and put her down onto her two feet.

"Panties in a bundle... ATHRUN! I never told you I needed you to do that! Urr..." She groaned angrily as the two stood on the outer balcony which was high up on the inner tower, facing east.

"Well... I wanted to... deal with it." He chuckled and laughed, giving off a cocky smile as Cagalli's face went red with anger.

"Errr... get out of my room! OUT! OUT!" She raged at him, pointing with her left finger towards her door.

"It's a Paladin's honor to treat his women with respect and love..." Athrun whispered to her, his head closing in on hers.

"Yeah, but we're not married... yet." Cagalli reacted as Athrun placed his left hand on her right, touching something there that was not seen before: A ring. He touched it, and she calmed somewhat. "Athrun..."

"Not... married... not yet... but soon enough..." The blue haired man said as he, without her permission, leaned in on her and kissed her flat on the lips, the Princess' eyes still wide open as he did before he pulled back. "Well then... good night Cagalli. I've got to be getting back to the Monastery." Athrun stated, turning around as he did.

"Goodbye Athrun..." She replied as he left the room, leaving the Princess alone as the high altitude winds blew her hair about.

* * *

"Father." Kira greeted the King as he walked onto the exposed corridor that King Uzumi was on when he addressed Patrick Zala and Natarle Badgiruel, his old man still looking out as the clouds began to approach Ono'goro bit by bit. They would be at the cities border in about half an hour and you could already see some flashes of thunder and lightening taking place every so often in the distance.

"Ah... Kira..." Uzumi replied, standing straight up and looking at his heir, the brunette around six foot one inches and the King six foot even. At the same time Kira was wearing his royal uniform which seemed to be the same as his fathers if only for a less extravagant and not as long dark blue silken cape with an icy design stitched in with white string and no crown on his head. "You grow taller by the day, my son. You're taller than me now! Oh... where has the time gone?" The King smiled, the Prince following suit.

"Time... such an odd thing... one day it's there and the next it's not..." Kira replied, giving Uzumi a look as if to indicate that he wanted to discuss more serious matters.

"How was your sister today... I heard you opened a portal from the fields to the city directly rather than walking. You guys must've seriously wanted to get out of the storm quickly if that was the case." Uzumi commented.

"I had help from Sai and Flay in creating the portal, father. When we all took notice of the dark clouds we were equally... upset and wanted to leave... besides..." Kira tried to say before being interrupted.

"... besides your sister... yes..." Uzumi leaned over the rail and motioned Kira to follow suit, the Prince doing so in duly fashion. "I've always tried to counter the fact that she's a Skelyet by telling her that although she doesn't have any magical power she will find her place in the world one day... as we all do." The king explained, pausing and sighing as he did before adding on to it. "She's taken onto her future mother-in-law well... so hopefully they can relate."

"Well Lenore Zala is also a Skelyet, like Cagalli... still, she didn't... at all seem to be afraid of the clouds and I felt she only followed along with us after I 'commanded' her to follow us. It worries me, father, especially if Cagalli decides to get a little brave should these clouds be hiding something very dark in them..." Kira warned as Uzumi turned to look his son and heir in the eye.

"Kira... Cagalli is not to leave Ono'goro unless she is being accompanied by either you or Athrun Zala, is that clear? Make sure Athrun... and Cagalli... especially Cagalli understand that!" Uzumi stated in a very stern, serious, and commanding voice.

"Yes, father." Kira responded back, getting the message.

"Good... now go down to the mess hall if you haven't already."

"Understood, father." The Frozen Blade responded.

* * *

Midnight on the border between the Penumbral Woods and the Kingdom of Light:

The sky was currently covered in dark black and purple clouds, a light drizzle falling from the sky as short bursts of thunder and lightening erupted every once in a while. At the same time though a very faint but unnatural light is emanating from Ono'goro itself off in the distance to the south. Meanwhile a pair of red dots... eyes even, emerge from the shadows of the Penumbral Woods and slowly begin to walk forward. In the darkness is a winged figure of sorts, around six foot even at head height although the wings are slightly taller and seem to be crimson red in some places. The figure itself is in the shape of a male. It is robed and carrying a very large weapon in it's right hand... possibly a sword. The sound of light, yet powerful breathing is heard from this shadowed figure and the power of darkness radiated off of it like how the sun gives off light. Looking into the distance, at Ono'goro, the figure stares at the city, it's face slightly revealed to have blood red, almost glowing pupils with what appears to be dark red 'blood tears' below each bottom eyelid, as well as slightly paler than normal skill (not as pale as Lacus') and black hair that is in almost the same arrangement as Kira's.

"Finally... ORB... the Kingdom of Light... time to make myself home..." The figure said, it's voice that of a teenage boy as it walked forward still in the shadows...

_To Be Continued..._


	2. My Name is Shinn

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED/Gundam Seed Destiny

* * *

Nel: **Wouldn't really worry about ****big ****romance **at this point in time but it'll eventually be there. That being said this is more about Cagalli thus far and her interactions with her friends and such. **If you're a Cagalli fan and want to see a fic where she starts of small and somewhat powerless (but barks, as she did last chapter) and then grows into someone more mature and powerful, I think you'll like this fic**, As for the setting, this fic is kind of medival based but at the same time the people wear clothes that are more like the ones we wear... unless they're royalty. And royalty wears what is needed... when it's needed, so don't be surprised to see Cagalli and co. walking around in not-so-sophisticated attire.

That being said, authors like me enjoy nice and detailed reviews =D Keep that in mind as you read this chapter. Although the next installment won't be out for a bit though.

* * *

Last time on ORB:

_"Finally... ORB... the Kingdom of Light... time to make myself home..." The figure said, it's voice that of a teenage boy as it walked forward still in the shadows... \_

The winged shadowed figure continued to walk forward out of the woods at a slow pace, his sense of smell, sight, hearing, and most importantly, magic all heightened to the extreme as he looked about the area, trying to see if anyone was around, or more specifically, any Auilyet that might cause him a problem. Sensing nothing the teenager just smirks to himself, his young smile sitting below his blood red, crimson eyes and pitch black brow as he stabbed the massive and dark blade into the ground before him and then reached into his shadowed right pocket and pulls out a rolled out piece of paper, bringing it before his dark gaze and unraveling it, an image of the border between ORB and the Penumbral Woods being shown as he places his right finger first finger upon a red 'x' that looked to be drawn of blood and then began to speak.

"Sapunmapus." He said in his normal, full voice as a small light blue and purple dot of light appeared on the map a couple of kilometers to the east of the 'x' that was drawn in blood. "Alright, I'll be there in a second." He said, rolling the paper back up and placing it back into his dark clothed pocket before turning west, grinning with confidence as he placed his right foot forward and bent downwards somewhat before grabbing his blade with his left hand and leaping forth up into the air, his massive black wings opening up wide to reveal three more smaller wings inside as a dark red light effect began to glow out of them, illuminating the area as the boy began to race through the forest, making left and right turns and ducking through tree branches, evading trunks and always staying below the canopy. 'It won't be too long... I'll set up a hide out and then tomorrow I'll get to work... hmmph...' He made and evil smirk as he continued to fly through the bordering woods, never fully exiting the forest but staying within the first couple of trees inwards, the rain continuing to fall from the sky onto his body from upon high... he didn't care. He would clean himself up once he managed to find shelter. "There it is..." He saw what he was looking for off in the distance and picked up speed, racing towards his target, when suddenly...

'SHIT!' He thought, feeling a nearby pressure and placing his feet on the ground, stabbing his blade into the ground and rolling over the dirt as his wings closed and his body seemed to change quickly, the red and black wings on his back fading away into nothingness as the fabric of his robes began to cut at certain points and transform into what would be a long sleeved red shirt and black pants. At the same time the 'blood tears' under his red eyes faded away to normal skin as be began to roll around. 'Dammit! Shouldn't have rushed! Shit! SHIT! SHIT!' He mentally cussed to himself. Off in the distance just behind him the silhouette of the two handed sword that he was holding seemed to glow a sickly green, dark purple and crimson red before collapsing into a small diamond of light and rushing to make it's way toward the boy, who caught it in his left palm and squeezed that hand tight, the little orb of energy being 'absorbed' into the very flesh his body and fading as he sought cover behind a rather large tree trunk and turned around to look outside the forest, which ended ten meters away. 'Bastards... if they see me... then this whole thing has been for nothing!' He thought, a flash of lightning taking place in the area seconds later as the rain continued to soak the forest floor.

"Lieutenant Joule? Is there something the matter?" A male figure whose face was hidden by his robe's hood asked another man next to him who seemed to be staring into the forest with anger and contempt.

"I swore I saw something out here... and I bloody felt it too!" The other man who had somewhat long silver hair and baby blue eyes raged as he looked into the forest. "You must've felt that surge of dark energy, right? Just in here... but now it's gone..." Lieutenant Yzak Joule of the Royal Magic Guard groaned, raising and putting his left hand into a tight fist, a rainment of dark blue, light blue, and white with a hint of yellow around the thighs, chest, shoulders and sleeves being worn by him.

"I saw it too, Lieutenant... it might have been something from inside the woods though... and it's probably retreated back into it by now after seeing us..." The other man said as Yzak reached to either side of his body and pulled out two one handed blades from their sheaths. As soon as these swords were exposed the area around them began to light up with an icy blue glow coming from them, and the blades themselves seemed to have a hilt, handle and core of some sort of black metal, and a blade made of light, almost white but not completely, ice.

"If that's the case then..." Yzak made a defensive pose with his blades. "I'll send whatever the hell that was a message it won't soon forget! HAAAAAAAA!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, swinging his right sword across his body and pulling it back only to make a vertical swing with his left sword before pulling back and making a forward stabbing motion with both swords. After each swing and thrust of a blade a large bolt of white and bright blue magic came out of the iced blade of the sword that it had been swung from, the bolts blitzing into the forest at a high speed, disappearing into the darkness before four large icy explosions were heard from a distance as the attacks seemed to strike something, the area nearby seeming to cool down significantly after as Yzak grinned, half smug half pissed off before sheathing the twin blades again, the light they were giving off fading as he did. "That'll teach whatever the hell that was to stay the hell out of the Kingdom of Light! Damned fiends of the darkness!" He raged, turning towards the other man. "Let's go back and rejoin the other men. I told them to stay put for now..." Yzak ordered.

"Sir." The other robed figure stated as the two left.

The boy with black hair and red eyes had seen it all as he transformed and hid in behind the tree from view. Unlike Yzak and the other guard, he was closer to the place where the raging albino's ice energy bolts had struck some trees deeper into the Penumbral Woods. When they did, he heard the sound of something freezing very quickly, and felt a fair amount of heat being pulled from his body as the temperature changed.

"I bet the bastard managed to freeze everything within a five meter radius at least... whatever, it'll probably thaw in the morning, and I could probably still take him easy if I needed too." He make a cocky smile before frowning like a sad clown. "These people are just lucky I want to stay in stealth... keh..." The boy said as he stood up and looked to his west, noticing that Yzak and the other man were gone. "And now the coast is clear..." He said with a grin, staying in the shadows as he made his way over to his destination which was about ten meters away from him. It was a large hill, shaped like a dome, and perfectly rounded. On the boy's side he saw what appeared to be a hole in the ground at the base of the hill, something that someone could walk into should they need to. 'This little mound of dirt... I heard about it from some other traveler at a tavern in the woods a while ago... apparently these light worshiping wretches never go inside here because the entrance is facing the Penumbral Woods... but if that's the case then I'll use to to my advantage..." The boy snickered with pride as he turned around the face the entrance of the underground cave as he descended it's steps before raising a wide right hand and putting his fingers into a clawing-esque formation. "Abodellusion..." He spoke, a small spark of dark purple light being formed in his hands and quickly forming into a larger ball of purple 'electricity' as the boy threw the ball out of the hole, where it turned green and brown before exploding in the entrance to the hole, the view going outside to see the passage simply vanish and look as if it had been replaced by regular dirt and grass.

"Good, now it's unlikely that anyone will be able to follow me in here... heh..." The kid smirked with pride as turned and looked down the tunnel, facing the pitch black darkness head on and completely unafraid of it... giving off a smile that indicated he welcomed it as he opened his left palm and the small sickly green, dark purple and crimson red diamond of light appeared again and flew in front of him before transforming into the sword that he wielded before. Now that a closer look could be taken of the blade, its features become visible. The handle had a hard diamond like stone that was the same colors as the light that it had been made from. The hilt was a dark blue and hallow semicircle with silver outlining it. Inside the semicircle was a blood red orb that seemed to glow with the same intensity of the boy's crimson eyes and from it the dark purple blade of the sword, which started out thin at the base but then slowly grew larger as it got longer before thinning out again at the tip. In the middle of the purple metallic blade a band of bright red light rested imbedded inside the blade, running the entire length of the blade from the tip all the way down to the blood red orb at the hilt. All in all the sword itself was almost as tall as the boy himself, if not a little more, and would require at least two hands to wield effectively.

"Now..." He brutally grabbed the hilt of the sword with his right hand before placing his left on it too. "Down to business..." He sunk the blade directly into the dirt, the blood red jewel turning different colors of red, dark blue, neon green and purple before channeling the energy down the blade of the sword into the ground, which began to glow an eerie purple and envelop the entire cave...

* * *

Cagalli's bedchamber in Castle Attha, nine in the morning:

"Princess... Princess..." The Royal Maid, Mana spoke in a voice much like a loving grandmother as she stuck her head through the door and rung a bell to awaken the Skelyet girl.

"Ugh... no... five... yawn more minutes... please.." The cranky Princess said as she turned her head around to that it was facing the sheets, her golden hazel eyes shut tight as she bent one of her many green pillows around her head to shield her ears from the noise as the girl's blankets lay strewn across the large bed without care, the girl resting in a plain, sleeveless spaghetti strap nightgown that went down to just above her knees.

"Princess..." The tone of Mana's voice went a bit critical. "Let's not have this fight again, shall we? You know your father wants you up now... and you know how he gets when you sleep in." The servant spoke as Cagalli erupted, taking her hand off of her pillow.

"Ohh... dammit! I know..." She sat up in her bed, clearly raging in a tired anger, reflecting on how she had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. "At least tell me that we're no longer 'in complete danger' from 'dark and scary' clouds." Cagalli said, her tone reflecting how scared she was of the darkness... which she wasn't, actually.

"Well, see for yourself, my girl." Mana gently pointed to the girl's balcony as Cagalli got out of her bed and walked towards the door to the balcony, opening it up wide to reveal the shinning and sunny morning sky of the Kingdom of Light. There was not a cloud in the sky and the sun was out already making everything cheerful. Pleased to see this the Princess raised her head up and breathed in the fresh air deeply, a small breeze taking hold of her short locks of golden hair as she exhaled gently and slowly. "Much better?" The Royal Maid asked gleefully as Cagalli turned around and gave her a joyful smile.

"Much better... I'll be dressed and ready in about fifteen minutes." Cagalli informed.

"Alright then..." Mana began to close the door but stopped a second late and re-opened it by a tad. "Oh, and be sure to comb your hair." She warned as Cagalli turned her head and looked at her vanity, gazing at the reflection of her bedhead hair as she groaned angrily, the maid leaving as she did, her task being complete.

* * *

Over the next hour or so the Princess of ORB managed to prepare herself for the coming afternoon. She took a shower and did her hair in her usual straight fashion before going downstairs to the grand hall of the castle to have something to eat yet despite this felt something odd. Shortly after she had left her room after getting dressed in her usual casual attire that she would adorn for just walking out on the streets she saw her brother Kira and said hello to him before they went their separate ways... or so she thought. During the rest of her time in the castle wherever she went he was also there... as if he was following her. At first Cagalli thought it was coincidence but as she left the castle to go out and take a walk today she found her brother following her, and by that time she realized that it wasn't simply a coincidence what he was doing, and was quite annoyed at his persistent presence behind her back.

"Alright Kira..." She turned to face him and crossed her arms on her chest as the two of them stood in the middle of one of Lake Haumae's three bridges that lead from Royal Hill to the mainland. "Why the hell are you following me?" She asked as he put on a somewhat startled complexion, not expecting her reaction, but then regained his composure a second later.

"What? I'm not following you, Cagalli." He said, twitching his head to the right in order to shake his long brown locks away from his face as Cagalli continued to stare into him with the same expression and body language as before.

"Yeah... yeah right, Kira. Very funny, brother." The Skelyet Princess told her Auilyet brother.

"No, seriously... well, I'm going into the town too! Although I've got to wonder why you're going into the city as well." Kira stated as Cagalli shook her head and closed the distance between them until there was only five feet between the two heads, Cagalli clearly shorter than her brother at around five foot seven versus his six foot one stature. Despite this the Princess of the Kingdom of Light addressed her twin sibling in a rather cold and bitter tone, seeing right through his facade.

"Kira... you know me better by now, you're smart and I'll say that you have good memory as well, considering how exceedingly 'proud' dad was of you when you brought home a perfect one hundred percent on the final of your... as you yourself said 'boring, tedious, and full of information, with most of it being useless, oh, and did I mention boring?' History of Magic Grade Eleven course. You know that I regularly go out into the marketplace and that I can't stand being held up in the castle for the _entire day _in one sitting. You on the other hand sometimes spend the day reading or taking target practice in the training grounds, or playing with your friends... and best of all... you just teleport around the city to do that, unlike me, who has to walk every-frigging-where!" That last bit came out in a loud and somewhat angry voice as Cagalli waved her arms in front of brother with urgency. "So tell me, why the hell have you been following me all damned morning? HUH?" She asked, pressing her face close to his in order to intimidate Kira, who budged his head back half an inch but then held his ground after that. "It's Dad, isn't it?" She asked as he replied with an affirmative nod to her face.

"Yes, Cagalli. Father told me to keep an eye on you, or at least he said that you were not to leave Ono'goro without being accompanied by either Athrun or myself." Kira informed as Cagall stepped back and put her right hand on her face, groaning as she did.

"Leave Ono'goro without you or Athrun? I never leave the city unless it's with ALL YOU guys... you. Athrun, Lacus, Flay, Sai, Dearka and Nicol... like yesterday! Besides, why is Dad so angry? The clouds disappeared between last night and now. There's no 'scary dark storm' coming our way!" The Princess ranted.

"Father has yet to tell me that you're allowed to leave Ono'goro without an escort." Kira crossed his arms firmly.

"Yeah, well I'm still in Ono'goro. Buzz the hell off, Kira!" Cagalli raged as she turned around and walked away before Kira walked up to her and stood next to her; keeping pace. "I said..." She began.

"I've still got to keep an eye on you. Besides, if you leave the city while I'm not with you... then father will be upset with me." He looked her in the eyes and gave her a friendly smile. "And I don't want that... neither do you."

"Yeah yea... I know you and Dad are only doing this because you care about me... and because I'm a... I'm a Skelyet." She said, the last three words of her sentence spoken in a melancholy and regretful way, as if she wished they were not true.

"I know... Cagalli... and I wish the same as you..." Kira spoke in a somewhat sad voice, the two of them three quarters of the way to the end of the bridge.

"So where shall we go first then? It's a bright day outside and I'd like to spend every moment of it well." Cagalli asked, her voice having had cheered up due to her brother's friendlier presence.

"I think we'll go see Athrun first... see what he wants to do. I bet he wants to do the same thing as you do, Cagalli." Kira responded, his twin chuckling a little as he did.

"Alright then... why don't you teleport us there?" Cagalli asked as Kira shook his head.

"Nope." Was his only word.

"What? Why!?" She asked in a somewhat protesting voice, confused and a little angry at the same time.

"Because... it's only fair. You would be walking around anyway... not teleporting, should I have chosen not to reveal myself. Besides, it'll be nice to get the exercise considering that we teleported home yesterday rather than walking." Kira explained, much to his sister's offense.  
"WHAT? KIRA ARE YOU CALLING ME FAT, MISTER!?" She asked, her beautiful cheeks reddening by the second.

"Haha... have you ever heard of a straw man argument before?" Kira laughed as he replied.

"Grr... Kira, you implied it... whatever... someday I'll..." She grunted as the two siblings continued on their way into the city, keeping each other company and having some harmless fun as they conversed.

* * *

Three people meet inside what appears to be a large and circular room. This room is about seven meters in diameter and has two doors inside of it. One on one side and the other on the opposite end. One of these doors looks to be made of stone and has an intricate design with the ORB Logo on it, as well as some other runes and magical symbols. The other is just a plain wooden door though. If the plain door is on the 'east' direction of the room and the stone one is on the 'west' then there is also a desk and chair set up on the 'north' direction of the room, and to the opposite of it is a large fireplace. Surrounding the rest of the room, integrated into the walls and above the doors, are bookshelves containing a vast amount of information and different magical texts. Two figures are standing near the desk side by side, and these are two figures that have been seen before: Grand Paladin Patrick Zala and Commander Natarle Badgiruel, both of them wearing what appeared to be less extravagant versions of the coat and pants that King Attha or Crown Prince Kira would wear (aka normal ORB military uniforms...). However sitting at the desk across from them is a new person. She had shoulder length chocolate hair and eyes, and a welcoming complexion, and was wearing a white and red robe with some black, blue, and yellow highlights, a staff with an interesting looking head and a trapped glowing light blue and pink jewel in the center of the headpiece off to the side, leaning on the bookshelf. This women is Murrue Ramius, Headmistress of the Academy of the Arcanytim, and an experienced Arcane Magus in her own right.

"So you say you haven't heard of any demons actually crossing into our borders last night, correct?" Patrick asked Natarle in an inquisitive manner, his voice desiring a decisive answer.

"No... although one of my Lieutenants... Joule did spot some sort of 'blood red' energy wing flying through the forest in the trees last night, although it disappeared as he tried to close in and investigate." Natarle reported.

"Lieutenant Joule? Yzak Joule, you mean? Am I right, Natarle?" Ramius asked.

"You are correct, Headmistress." Natarle replied.

"So I take it... in response... he managed to try to blast whatever it is he saw into a glacier with his magic, correct? Knowing him that would probably be a fitting reaction." Ramius stated.

"And appropriate... make sure those monsters know that they are not welcome in ORB under any circumstances whatsoever!" Patrick added, grinding his teeth somewhat.

"From what I understand he shot a couple of ice bolts in the general direction of what he saw... but he never encountered anything last night during the storm. None of my men did, actually. The guard is still on alert though... as we said last night there hasn't been a storm like that in a long time... something powerful had to cause it, period, and because of that we're sticking to regulations and protocols." Natarle informed as Ramius nodded.

"And whatever the damn it is... we'll get to the bottom of it...!" Patrick said with resolve, pausing for a second. "I've informed the Paladins and Vindicators to be on a higher alert as well. If there is some force meaning to do harm to ORB then we'll stop it, period!" Patrick said as Natarle's eyes quickly glanced over to the stone door for just a second, but for long enough for Ramius to notice.

"While we don't know what we're dealing with nor do we know what it wants... I'm sure we'll find out in time. That being said I'll be restricting access into the vault to myself and those with the King's permission, alright?" Ramius asked.

"Satisfactory, keep safe hold of your magical artifacts, Magus... we'll protect our holy symbols." Patrick finished, the three of them nodding.

* * *

The Monastery of the Light was a massive set of buildings that sat on the southern shore of Lake Haumae. The buildings were made of an ivory colored material like Castle Attha and the main building, the Cathedral, had a large bell tower rising up out of it. On the tip of this bell tower was a thin, but long, black metal rod and at the very tip of this rod was a golden yellow light, like a star, that illuminated the grounds of the entire monastery, even at night. Inside the courtyard of the Monastery which bordered the lake itself, Athrun Zala, who had just woken up and gotten dressed and prepared for the day, was meeting his fellow Paladin and Vindicator friends on the outside.

"Ooh... don't worry little one... you'll be fine..." Lacus said as she knelt near the shore, sitting on her legs as she held a small baby blue bird in her right hand, her left hovering above it as if she was going to say some prayer to heal it. Meanwhile Dearka was sitting on a white stone bench nearby relaxing and Nicol was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, Athrun... you seem a little tired, and you slept in... something the matter?" Dearka asked with a smile as he blue haired friend approached them.

"Nah, I just had the whole 'dark storm' on my mind last night, although apparently that's passed by now... ahh!" He screamed, tensing up somewhat.

"Athrun... BOO!" Nicol laughed as Athrun turned around to take note of his green haired friend who had sneak up behind him. "I got yeah that time, didn't I!?" Nicol giggled.

"Hehe, yeah..." Athrun relaxed his muscles. "So what's up guys?" He asked, looking at both Dearka and Lacus.

"Well your father is still a bit worried about what happened yesterday so we're supposed to be 'alert' in case anything happens." Dearka informed, scratching the back of his head with his right fingers.

"Not surprising, knowing my father." He turned his verdant gaze towards Lacus. "What about you, Lacus?"

"She found this bird this morning after it slammed into her window... and she's been trying to heal it..." Nicol informed.

"Ah..." Athrun replied.

"I AM healing it, not trying, Nicol!" Lacus responded as she continued to focus on the bird, muttering some quiet words to herself before a white light appeared from her palms and enveloped the small animal before it hoped out of her hand and chirped in her direction, taking off and flying away as it did. "There... now you're all better." She got up, and gave off a nice sigh of relief before turning to Athrun.

"You know, you're going to need to not be sleeping in like that if you're to be married to the Princess, you know?" She pointed out, looking at him as she joked.

"Yeah yeah, I know... although from what Kira tells me the Princess is a heavy sleeper in her own right." Athrun added.

"Well it seems to me that you two will get alone well, don't you agree, Nicol?" Dearka said humorously.

"That's right..." Nicol responded as a fifth voice invaded the conversation.

"And speaking of Princess Cagalli..." A women stated as she walked closer to Athrun and the others.

"Mother..." Athrun turned and looked at his beautiful Skelyet parent as she wore a white shirt and gray pants, her short blue hair in it's usual fashion.

"They're here, and your friend the Prince wants to talk to you, Athrun." Lenore spoke.

"I see... alright, where are they, mother?" Athrun asked as Lenore motioned her son to follow. 'Hmm... what does Kira want to talk about anyway?' He thought, leaving the other three behind to themselves.

* * *

A figure began to approach the gates of border of Ono'goro city. While the capital city of ORB did have a wall surrounding it, and while that wall was tall, thick, and made of the ivory material that most of the important structures were in the city, it wasn't very heavily guarded, not in times of peace. Closing in on the northern most entrance to the city, the person, dressed in a shirt that had blue around the upper body and red around the abdomen, white pants with red and white sneakers and a primarily red but somewhat black hoodie that had it's hood down (A/N: Clothes that look like the Force Impulse lol) stepped through the massive gates and entered the wall, his the hair on his head midnight raven black and his eyes as red as ever. No one particularly paid attention to him though, considering he looked like the average civilian. He himself however was thinking several prideful thoughts in the meantime.

'Damn... so this is Ono'goro... the Capital of the Kingdom of Light... I never thought it would enter this place... ever... then again I never thought I would ever need to come to this blasted nation in my lifetime... but then I had to be an idiot and end up in my current predicament... dammit. Still, if I ever get back home I guess I'll be able to brag endlessly to the others about how I casually walked into the largest city that 'the enemy' has and went around it like a normal person... with no one knowing the wise...' A grin overtook his face for a second. 'Still, this stupid place... it looks even more light infested than in the books we have back home that describe it. Just a reminder of how I don't want to have to be hear in ORB for very long.' The boy began to approach some patrolling guards which were clad in armor as he seemed to be making his way through one of the cities outdoor malls, of which there were several of dotted around Lake Haumae, considering the weather in ORB was usually sunny and warm. Tensing up a bit he looked at one of guards... blonde hair, blue eyes, looked to be rather buff and in his mid thirties. Suddenly though the guard looked him right in the eyes and the boy tensed a little more, wondering what would happen.

'Yeah, I could take that guy out if he gives me trouble but if I do this entire thing is blown... well it all depends on how he reacts...' The boy thought as the guard smiled, much to his surprise.

"Good day to you." The guard smiled at the boy, who put on a slightly shocked look, if only for a moment.

"Oh, thanks. Good day to you, too!" The black haired boy responded as he passed by the guards with a smile, however in his head he was laughing. 'Good, hopefully the rest of these lighthumpers are like him and just let me pass by without a problem. I'm already hating this bright-as-sin place... I guess I'll take a look around and see if the map I have of it is still relevant, and I'll get some reagents for when I get back home. I want to get started the necessary spells as soon as possible...' The black haired boy continued to walk through Ono'goro, passing by many different people and different locations.

* * *

Athrun, Cagalli and Kira were all sitting together in one of Ono'goro's parks at around noon. The area sat next to the shore of Lake Haumae and was a large, verdant, grassy field dotted with trees and shrubs, where kids could run around and their parents could sit and relax. Where students could come to get some fresh air to think while studying or just hang out with each other, or, in the case of a Crown Prince, his Princess sister, and her Paladin fiance, eating lunch at one of the picnic tables. This lunch specifically consisting of donair kebabs.

"Whoa... settle down Cagalli... it's almost as if you're trying to swallow the damn thing hole. You don't want to end up choking on it, do you?" Athrun asked as he sat next to the blonde as she assaulted her lunch with a hungering maw. In response, the blonde, bit what she already had and turned to face him and gave an angry look before sealing her mouth.

"A dusn't at moooch bucuz..." She tried to say with her mouth full.

"Cagalli... we can't hear you with your mouth full like that, you know?" Kira asked from across the table as Cagalli grinned and began to chew her food, the guys laughing as she did.

"Haha... very funny..." Cagalli said in an annoyed manner as she finished eating. "I said, or at least, was trying to say 'I didn't each much at breakfast because of my stalker of a brother...'" She gave Kira a look of desired revenge as he giggled.

"Sorry Cagalli, didn't know I would scare you off like that." Kira replied as Athrun began to squirt some yogurt sauce onto his kebab, and Cagalli took notice.

"What, Athrun? Why would you put that on it? Eww... hot sauce is better..." Cagalli said with a look of satisfaction, winking as she reached for the hot sauce bottle and squirting some onto hers.

"Nah, too... spicy for me. I like the creamier taste of yogurt better... it's smoother..." Athrun stated.

"You're both wrong." Kira finished swallowing a piece of his quarter-eaten meal. "And both sauces are disgusting. I've never tasted them, and I never will, ever! Too... slimy for me." Kira said as a mischievous look befell Athrun's visage.

"Ironic that the iceman doesn't like slippery stuff, eh Cagalli?" Athrun asked Cagalli in a completely-innocent-and-not-totally-planning-somet hing tone as Kira continued to nibble at her own kebab, the blonde winking in return.

"Oh yeah, it's ironic. Maybe it's because hot sauce burns him up, eh Athrun..." Cagalli said in a similar voice as Kira kept to himself, focused on his meal while subconsciously listening to them but not doing anything about it.

"Or maybe it's because yogurt is milk and Kira always preferred his milk ice cold..." Athrun grinned suspiciously.

"Yeah... maybe Athrun... anyway I think that we should find out just what Kira thinks anyway, so we know the truth, don't you agree?" Cagalli asked as she picked up the hot sauce bottle, at the same time a figure carrying a map began to walk behind Kira, around ten meters away from the table.

"I agree completely, Cagalli..." Athrun picked up the yogurt bottle, Kira noticing just what they were doing.

"Wait? You guys... no!" Kira screamed as Athrun and Cagalli managed to squirt both the hot sauce and yogurt sauce onto his kebab, causing the Frozen Blade's cheeks to blush bright red and for him to fall out of his chair onto the dirt behind himself. At the same time the figure behind Kira turned at the sound of the Prince's voice, his red eyes looking at the scene as he scoffed.

'Idiots...' The kid carrying the map thought.

"Wow... Kira..." Athrun said lightly as Kira tried to get up, the Paladin getting out of his seat to help him, slowly walking over.

"Sorry, brother... didn't mean to..." Cagalli stated as Kira quickly responded.

"It's alright you two... I would just back away a little." Kira grunted, trying to get up.

"What?" Athrun asked.

"Why?" Cagalli added.

"Cause you two went and made me... a little bit mad!" Kira roared somewhat, stretching his right arm out in an attempt get up, at the same time a frosty blue aura of magical energy appeared around his hand as a spear of mystical ice shot out of it, behind where Athrun and Cagalli were, flying through the air at an arc before reaching it's peak and coming down on Lake Haumae just past the shore, a circle of water in a two and a half meter radius from the impact instantly freezing over, getting the attention of everyone in the area as Kira grinned. "There, distracted you!" He quickly got onto his feet and grabbed the two bottles of sauce, swapping sides and squirting hot sauce onto Athrun's kebab and yogurt onto Cagalli's. "Take that, you two!" He said, laughing victoriously.

"Gah, damn you, Kira!" Cagalli raged, shaking her fists.

"Whoa... I did not expect that, but did you really need to freeze the lake up?" Athrun asked as the three of them got back together at the table, while the kid holding his map behind Kira just fixed his eyes on two things: The frozen piece of ice that was now floating and Kira himself, a serious gaze in his eyes.

'He managed to freeze over an area of water of that size at this temperature... by instantly casting a spell with no incantation and without summoning his gunram? Who is this guys... just wearing normal clothes like me... he's powerful... not many Mages are capable of doing something like that just on straight up impulse... not many young ones anyway... and he looks to be my age... grr...' The black haired, red eyed kid thought to himself, grinning with a hint of anger at Kira as he did.

"You guys were asking for it... just know that right now, okay?" Kira joked as he, with great reluctance, took a bite of his hot and yogurty kebab, chewing it slowly over time before swallowing.

"Well, what do you think of it?" Cagalli asked with a cheeky grin, tilting her head it's right as she gleefully awaited her brother's response.

"Well... it's _somewhat alright_." Kira spoke, iffy about his words.

"Knew you would like it, Kira." Athrun said as he took a bite of his own before looking at Cagalli, who seemed to be gazing off into the distance. "Cagalli?" Athrun asked.

"Kira, there's someone behind you and he's looking right at your back..." Cagalli warned to Kira who became somewhat started. At the same time the kid with black hair and red eyes heard what she said and quickly put his attention back on his map, but it was too late. "Oh..." Cagalli got up and began to walk towards him.

'Go away... just leave me...' The kid thought to himself, trying to walk away slowly as if nothing had happened.

"Hey, you there..." Cagalli said as she closed the distance between herself and the kid with the folded down hoddie.

"Cagalli..." Athrun tried to say as Cagalli turned to him for a second.

"Just... stay there... I'll be back in a second, Athrun, alright?" She said in a slightly commanding voice as if she meant her words, her shoes making their way across the grass as she placed her right hand onto his left shoulder. "Hello there... what was that all about?" She asked curiously, trying to turn her head to get a good look at his face.

"What was what all about?" The kid asked, clearly annoyed as he tried to shake her hand off. At this point in time Kira and Athrun had shifted their attention to Cagalli and this unknown person, their gazes set and their muscles ready to go into action should anything happen.

"'What was what all about'? HA! Why were you staring at my brother for so long? And what's with the map? I've seldom seen someone who needs a map to navigate Ono'goro!" Cagalli said as he turned away, and Athrun and Kira's hands clenched slightly. Something wasn't normal. Everyone knew Kira and Cagalli as royalty and so to turn away from them meant something was about.

"I'm just getting to know the place... arrived here a week ago and now I'm taking a grand tour around." He lied perfectly.

"Oh... well then... that still doesn't explain why you were looking at my brother like that. Is it because he froze the water?" Cagalli asked.

"Sorta... don't see that happen often." The figure answered. 'LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE! **NOW!**' He mentally screamed to himself.

"Well... that's my brother Kira for you. He can do all sorts of amazing things with his Auilyet powers." Cagalli said, still trying to get a clear look at this guy's face.

'Well no damn shit, Sherlock...' He thought. "Cool... it was nice to see that happen. Now, if you'll excuse me I must find the circle on my map... I can't see to find it anywhere..." He grunted as Cagalli grabbed his map right out of his hands. "Hey!" He asked.

"Seems to be just an ordinary guy..." Athrun said.

"But still..." Kira whispered as the two close friends continued to observe the conversation.

"Oh... this place?" Cagalli looked at the map and noticed how outdated it was. "They're no longer around. Moved a while ago..." She reached into her left pocket and pulled out a pen. "Over here now... hope that helps." She said, giving the map back to the boy who nearly tore it out of her hands.

"Thanks... I guess..." He said before walking away and putting on his red hood with a black outline.

"Oh... no problem." She smiled before realizing one thing. "Hey, what's your name? If you're new here it's probably a good idea to get to know people... considering you didn't recognize me." She said.

"Recognize you?" He said in a somewhat condescending tone.

"Uh, yeah. I'm Cagalli Yula Attha, Princess of ORB. That one who froze the water is my brother, Kira Gos Attha." Cagalli said as the figure completely stopped.

'The Prince and Princess of this damned place right next to me? Holy...' The boy thought, a shocked but unseen expression on his face.

"You still haven't told me your name... who are you?" She asked as the figure quickly turned around and pulled down it's hood, exposing it's full face with red eyes and black hair for the sole purpose of getting a good look at Cagalli directly. Short golden blonde hair and hazel eyes... as well as a tomboyish look on her face. Yeah, he would remember that. Know thy enemy, after all.

"My name is Shinn..."

"Shinn who?"

"Just... Shinn. Anyway, I've best be running. I'm already behind schedule." Shinn replied, turning around and walking away from them as Cagalli just stood still for a couple seconds.

"Well then... Shinn... goodbye." She turned and walked back over to Kira and Athrun.

"Give you any trouble?" Kira asked.

"Nah... I think he was just a shy newcomer. Only been in town for a little over a week." Cagalli reported, causing Kira and Athrun to both relax a little on the inside as she picked up her kebab and took a bite out of it. "Damn... cold now." She complained.

"Here... let me help. I may not be Flay but this is a simple task..." Kira said, placing his hand over the kebab but not touching it as fiery red energy began to envelop his hand and spread to the kebab, the episode coming to a close with Shinn walking away from them.

'Cagalli Yula Attha... Princess of ORB... and Kira Gos Attha... Prince of ORB? Who was the third one? A close friend? Doesn't matter... no one will get in the way of my plans. No one...' Shinn thought to himself with an expression of determination on his face.


	3. Enchanted Day at the Beach

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED/Gundam Seed Destiny

Author's Note: As I said, this fic is not really about romance. While there will be romance (and it will be ShinnxCagalli in the end... just as a warning, because, how many AsuCaga fics are there already on this site? How many ShinnCaga ones are there? Laughable ratio, and I'm practically the one author who makes SxC fics these days), it won't really take place for a while; I'm not jumping into full on fluff mode from the very start. This first story arc that I'm making right now is going to be... 10-15 chapters long I THINK. As we progress through it there will be AsuCaga bits here and there because they're in an arranged marriage situation. However once this first arc is complete and the cast will change for the most part... you'll see what I mean when it happens, trust me. Don't over think it just wait and see xD

* * *

Anyway, onto chapter three:

Last chapter:

_'Cagalli Yula Attha... Princess of ORB... and Kira Gos Attha... Prince of ORB? Who was the third one? A close friend? Doesn't matter... no one will get in the way of my plans. No one...' Shinn thought to himself with an expression of determination on his face. _

* * *

Two days later, Cagalli's bedchamber in Castle Attha:

It was once again nine o'clock on the morning, or more specifically, eight forty five, fifteen minutes before the Royal Maid, Mana, would open the large and extravagant wooden door and go through the usual task of waking up a certain stubborn Princess. However, today, was different.

Light, soft, and very tired moaning noises could be heard from the head of the Princess' bed as she began to awaken by her own will, the eyelids of the blonde Skelyet flickering open for a second and then closing shut at the bright, white morning light that had penetrated the room from the windows. Giving off another tired moan, the girl found herself rubbing her right eyelid with the soft skin on the back of her right middle finger, cracking open her eyelids once again to reveal her golden hazel eyes to the world, or more specifically, the red silk veil that lie above her head.

"It's... it's morning already?" She asked herself, slowly sitting up in her bed, a completely and utterly tired expression on her face as she gave a groggily groan... and then it hit her. Something in her mind 'clicked'. "Wait, it's morning already?" She asked, hearing a bird chirp outside. "And I'm up early?" She asked again, rushing out of her bed and nearly tripping on blankets that she had forced partially off of the mattress in her beauty slumber, the Princess making her way towards the door that would lead out onto her high balcony, forcing the door open with all of her ferocious, petite might as the cool morning breeze forced it's way into the room, nearly knocking her back as she did, the rays of ORB's bright sun shining down from above as the sounds of bird chirping as they perch on various locations on the castle making itself a more present factor to her hearing. It was another sunny day ripe for activity, and once again, Cagalli took a deep breath in and then exhaled out slowly, her attractive, slim yet developed night gown dress expanding and then contracting as she did.

"Wonderful..." She said, her eyes shut tight and her face smiling with utter pleasure and happiness as she opened her eyes again. "Well, I'm a poet... first off... and second off..." She quickly walked back into her room and shut the balcony doors quickly, clasping her two feminine hands together in a sinister fashion as she grinned maliciously. "I might get to wake Kira up..." She thought, her grin growing wider and increasingly teasing as she finished that sentence, the Princess of ORB then rushing into one of the other doors in her room, which took her to her private bathroom where she almost ripped off her nightgown, took a hasty but thorough shower, washing her hair and soaping up her skin with suds, brushing her teeth and combing her hair, as well as performing other early day bathroom preparations before getting dressed in a short sleeved light blue shirt and yellow shorts that went down halfway to her knees.

* * *

"Another day... I wonder if the young lady will..." Mana tried to say as she humbled down the hallway on the way to Cagalli's bedchamber, the main about ten feet away from the door as it outright burst open, almost spontaneously as Cagalli herself ran out of the room. "Ugh, Princess? PRINCESS?" Mana asked, utterly shocked as she looked at the awoken and rather chirpy blonde.

"Is my brother up yet? Did you wake him?" Cagalli asked with excitement as she looked at Mana, who shook her head negatively. "Good, I'll get him up this morning." Cagalli said, running off just as quickly as she spoke those words, the servant left alone as she did.

"Tsk tsk..." She shook her head, smiling. "Girl didn't even shut her door she was in such a rush..."

* * *

Kira's bedchamber:

While the Princess' room was a bright room that was nicely decorated and suited for a girl her age, Kira's was way different. The Crown Prince's room was just as large, if not larger, and seemed to have the same shape, door locations, and door purposes as Cagalli's. The major similarity ended there. Kira's bed was a size larger than Cagalli's and didn't have a veil above it, rather, he had a very large portrait of what appeared to be Royal Hill and Castle Attha itself, except this was at night with a full moon out, and yet despite this the painting still revealed the castle to, for lack of better words 'glow' as if it was still late afternoon or early twilight, a shining icon of the day in the middle of the night. It almost seemed as if this picture was put here for Kira because he would be taking his father's place one day as King, and so he was encouraged to admire the palace that would one day belong to him. At the same time Kira's bed had sheets of dark and light blue, and where Cagalli had a large vanity and walk in closet, Kira had what appeared to be a work bench for studying, as well as a storage location for both magical reagents and books.

The Frozen Blade's bedchamber was completely quiet, if not for the insanely quiet sound of a chirping bird on the exterior of the castle. Spontaneously though, this silence, this peace, was broken, interrupted, destroyed as the door was jarred open and a certain blonde haired girl walked inside the room, making her way directly towards the bed.

"Kira... Kira... wake up..." She giggled, leaning over her brother who had taken most of his blue sheets and blankets and wrapped himself in them, the outline of a fetal position outlining how he was resting beneath them. However, despite the Princess' words, Kira remained completely locked in sleep as if he didn't even hear Cagalli. "Kira... WAKE UP!" She raised her voice somewhat, grabbing the sides of his body and shaking them as he grumbled slightly, but still kept his snooze going. "KIRA! WAKE UP! NOW!" She raised her voice even more, leaning over him as she did, when suddenly his left hand managed to snake it's way around her backside and pull her right down onto his bed, his right arm trapping her two as she felt herself bent over top of his bed and sheets, her head just behind his own.

"Alright... who are you and what do you... Ca... Cagalli?" Kira asked, loosening his grip and allowing his sister to go as she stood up straight and looked down upon the Prince with a half open eye. "You barely ever even wake me up... and I thought you would..." Kira tried to say as his sister interrupted him.

"Today we're going to Kaguya, remember? We all agreed to it yesterday, and I want to get going as soon as possible, so wake up!" Cagalli demanded as Kira rubbed his right eye with it's hand, still desiring rest.

"Cagalli... let's go... tomorrow... it's such a good day... for a snooooooozeee..." His head fell back onto his pillow as he closed his violet eyes, the Princess near him clenching her fists as she did.

"Tomorrow? TOMORROW? KIRA, WAKE UP, NOW! You said we would go today, and today is the perfect day to go to the beach at Kaguya! NOW WAKE UP before I need to DRAG you out of bed!" Cagalli demanded, her voice that of an angry military general as Kira's eyes found themselves open again and he stretched his arms, moving his sheets off of him to reveal that he was wearing a simple muscle shirt on his chest and torso.

"Oh, fine then... be that way... and remind me to never promise you anything like that, again, alright?" Kira asked as he slowly sat up and looked at Cagalli. "Go have something to eat..." He shooed her off, waiting for a second before giving off a smile of close sibling love to Cagalli. "... I'll be down in a couple of minutes. Although I gotta warn you... some of the others..." He conveniently coughed. "Athrun." He did it again. "are heavier sleepers than me."

"Yeah well he'll have to lean to outgrow that if he's going to be my husband! I'll make him!" Cagalli gave off a sinister grin as she walked away and left the room, closing the door almost all the way behind her to make sure that Kira was still up and hadn't just _said _those things to her, so while she looked through the crack she noticed him just sitting in his bed, doing nothing at all. "Get up!" He looked at her and sighed before motioning out of his bed, Cagalli closing the door behind her as he did.

* * *

The room is dark and the walls seemed to be made of some sort of matte black metallic material. The floor is composed of a dark, marble-like material in the middle of the ground is what appears to be a thin, rectangular hole, as if something, like a large sword, had been plunged into the ground in it and withdrawn later. The entire room is lit up by a few candles, all of which are emanating this bright, yet purple flame, giving off enough illumination for the room to successful be used and seen. A large, black, wooden book case sits off to the side of the room in the corner and is absolutely crammed with texts. There is also a wooden bed frame, mattress, pillow, sheets, and blanket in the opposite corner of the room that seemed to be made for just one person.

However what is intriguing is that all along the opposite side of the room, from one end to the other is a workbench, not unlike Kira's, bar it's lack of draws or compartments, containing some of the same instruments and tools on it, such as vials, beakers, and glass tubes. However this area is a lot messier than Kira's, as if the person who used it was working ferociously at it and didn't bother to clean it up, because he would be the only one using it and he knew what he was doing anyway. Sitting in the center of this workbench on a stool is the black haired, red eyed kid that Cagalli had seen two days ago: Shinn, wearing little more than a shirt and a pair of pants, his eyes utterly fixed upon the certain page of a textbook that he was studying, several pieces of paper lying nearby on his left, as well as both a small little white cloth bag and water skin to his right, away from the book and pieces of paper.

"Alright... alright... where is it?" Shinn said to himself, following his right first finger as it raced across the old text on one of the pages of the large book, stopping when he found something he was looking for. "This stupid thing... the Absoluz Luminos... the aura of light and purity that wraps itself around this entire country and probably the biggest pain in the neck that I'm going to have to overcome." Shinn said in an utterly bitter tone as if he completely and fundamentally despised what he was reading about and held no amount of respect or love for it whatsoever. Yet despite this he continued to scan the texts he was reading about it, racing through the writing before rolling his eyes and shutting the book's covered closed. "For crying out loud!" He raged, groaning for about five seconds before calming 'somewhat'. "I'm not going to be able to cast it here... heck, I won't be able to cast any of my spells in this land from the comfort of my little shack... all because of their stupid nonsense!" He slammed his left fist down onto the table. "Well, if that's the case then..." He reached for the small pile of poorly assorted papers and pulled the first one from it.

"I'll just need to go somewhere else to get this done... and get it done quickly before those blind and zealous morons come racing to where I am in an attempt to stop me and punish me for my 'wrong doings'." He snorted, placing a finger on an area that was to the northern shores of ORB, close by and not that far of a walking distance from where he was, but still far enough away so that he could leave and be back in time. "Kaguya... alright then, I'll go there." He spoke, standing up and grabbing the stack of papers, the water skin, and the cloth baggie he had next to him on his table before walking over to his bed and pulling on the red and black hoodie he had and leaving through the only exit that his room had: A staircase that lead directly upwards and out a black hole, but he knew what the blackness meant as he stepped through it, being forced to shield his eyes as the sunlight enveloped him, the kid having had just passed outside of the hillside hole that he went in a couple of days before. Quickly turning around and scanning the areas on the other side of the hill, which faced the Kingdom of ORB, he found nobody nearby and grinned before heading east at a fair pace.

* * *

Kira, Cagalli, Flay, Sai, Lacus, and Dearka were all waiting in the middle of the south-western bridge leading out from Royal Hill onto the shore where Ono'goro was.

"Dammit! What's taking those guys so long anyway?" Flay asked in a slightly heated rage as she and the rest of the teens held onto some sort of bag that they each had.

"Meh, it's no surprise... we had Nicol stay behind because Athrun's a heavy sleeper and we wanted to make sure he got out of bed in time..." Dearka added as he looked across the glistening blue water of Lake Haumae, the sun shimmering off of it brightly as the daily heat itself made even his cool temper heat up as they waited.

"Hey, look, there they are!" Lacus shouted, staring onto the bridge down to the mainland, her right hand above her head, shielding it from the heat and allowing her to see better as she noticed Nicol and Athrun making their way towards them.

"Ah..." Sai gave a light sigh. "I knew it wouldn't take too long..."

"YOU GUYS HURRY IT UP ALREADY WE'VE BEEN WAITING OUT HER FOR LONG ENOUGH!" Cagalli cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled as loud as she could towards the two of them as green hair and blue locks stared at each other and then began to rush towards them as quickly as they could with a small bag in each of their hands, the two seemingly in a race to see who would get to the group first although it was blatantly obvious that they didn't want to keep the rest of them waiting any longer.

"Got it... I win..." Athrun said as he slid right at the rest of them, with Nicol behind by a hair.

"Hehe... there's always next time, don't forget about it!" Nicol responded, shaking one finger at Athrun in a friendly fashion.

"Alright, good... so the sleeper decided to awaken finally, am I right?" Flay asked, staring at Athrun expectantly.

"Uh... no... it was actually Nicol." Athrun stated calmly as the green haired boy giggled.

"Yeah, sure... it was. No, my mother had just sent me a small letter and I needed to read it first before I left. It's nothing serious..." Nicol responded.

"A small letter? About what?" Lacus asked as Kira interrupted them.

"Alright... alright... enough idle chatter for now, guys..." The Crown Prince stated, gathering everyone's attention. "You guys can talk about letters later. For now though I want to go to Kaguya and take a dip? Who's with me?" He asked as everyone put their hand up.

"I AM!" They all stated in unison as he nodded at Flay and Sai again, the three of them linking hands together and quickly chanting some sort of spell under their breath as magical energies began to flow around their hands, the one Skelyet and other Auilyets waiting as they did. After a time another portal was created in the middle of their circle, this time the area inside of it displaying something that looked like a sunny beach. "Alright, let's go." Kira ordered as the group of teens began to file inside the portal.

* * *

In the meantime, staring up high from one of the outer, shorter towers of Castle Attha was King Uzumi himself, a spyglass in hand as he looked upon his son, daughter and all their friends from above, smiling as he did. Cagalli was safe with all her friends nearby, and so there was nothing to worry about. In the meantime the King himself had some of his own work to do, and so as the last person, Kira, entered the portal, he left and made his way down the hall.

'Cagalli... oh my sweet Cagalli... be happy... the way you are already...' He thought to himself.

* * *

Kaguya was ORB's second largest city, the location of it's main trading and immigration ports, and also the location where the largest Skelyet population was. Resting on the northern coast it was a fairly nice place to be, and on some days, the weather was even nicer than it was in Ono'goro itself. While the southern coast was primarily devoted to shipping docks, the northern coast was home to a large and popular beach, where the sand was a fine, golden grain, the water was a pristine blue and usually the right temperature. This was were the group from Ono'goro was headed right now, and as the portal made by Kira, Flay and Sai opened, the lot of them walked through and immediantlyimmediately began to think one, collective thought.

_Alright, time to have fun! _

* * *

At the same time though there was an area just north of Kaguya's beach, a rocky location with a large, dark gray cliff and several caves that no one ever bothered to explore. This place was close to the border of Penumbral Woods, and it reflected that geographical fact rather well, for the temperature seemed to chill somewhat when you went there, and the color of the water darkened by a tad as well. It was in this location where Shinn found himself. It was from this location, where the people of ORB would finally come to realize that the dark thunderstorm, an incredibly rare event to ever happen in the Kingdom of Light, was part of something bigger. What they would not know yet though... is what exactly that 'something bigger' was.

Making his way inside of one of the dark caves Shinn found himself sitting down with his legs crossed on the cold, stone ground, setting the bag that he had with him down and pulling out the stack of papers he had with him. The boy quickly grabbed the water skin he had taken with him, which was kept on his side by a strap, and drank from it, making a nice 'awe' sound before getting down to business.

"Alright, lets get this nonsense quick and over with as soon as possible... I don't want some crazed light worshiper running into this cave after me..." He said as he sorted through the piles of paper he had brought with him until he found three things that he was looking for. One of them was a plain, blank piece of woody brown parchment, that looked as if it was freshly made and just pulled from a pile a short while ago. The second was a sheet with some handwriting drawn on it, that almost seemed to be like the instructions for an incantation or something like that. From the look of it, the print was done up very quickly and with a fair amount of haste put into it; it was the kind of writing that only two types of people could decipher: One, somebody with worse printing, and two, the mind that the hand that wrote it belonged to. Last but certainly not least was a drawing, but it was a very special drawing. Although it wasn't colored, the object depicted just seemed to reek of 'darkness' by it's very image.

It was a small sphere, almost like a star but around the size of a small marble that was surrounded by several sharp, very thin, crystals in an arranged pattern. At the same time there were many different 'specks' drawn floating around the sphere and crystals, and the entire thing had what appeared to be a 'force field' around it, or at least that was what the image displayed. The parchment that the object itself was drawn on seemed to be older than the other two pieces of paper, or anything else in the pile that Shinn had with him, and while it did give off an expression of being 'well kept', it had it's fair share of wear and tear on it, with some small rips on the edges and several frequently used crease lines running down the page, indicating that it had been folded and unfolded many times.

"Sothoth..." Shinn mumbled to himself, gazing at the illustration in front of him before turning his head towards the bag that he had taken with him, unzipping it and then dumping it on the ground before him. Laying before him on the stone floor was an assortment of... stuff, for lack of better words. Well, not really stuff, but nothing that seemed significant. Rather, the entire contents of the bag seemed to resemble a little child's rock collection. However Shinn wasn't really paying much attention to many of the stones in it, even though they ranged from various colors and different shapes. Rather, he quickly picked up two of them and then cast the rest of them aside carelessly. "Lens of Clarity..." He gazed at a small, completely clear opal that he could easily fit in between his thumb and first finger. "Stone of the Mental Scribe..." He looked at another rock, which appeared to be more like glossy black ink solidified into a smooth edged, almost pen like structure that was as almost as long as his thumb, and was broken at one end.

'Luckily for me they sold incomplete stones that had been shattered from larger, more complete, and more easily identifiable ones... good for me. I wouldn't need one of those unless I was peering into someone's mind...' Shinn thought quietly before setting the pieces of paper in front of him in an upside down triangle fashion, with the piece that had handwriting on it being placed at the bottom and in front of him, the one with the illustration of the mysterious object above it and to the left, and the blank piece of paper to the right of it before placing the opal on top of the drawing and the black, ink-like stone on top of the blank piece. "Let's get this over with." The black haired, red eyed kid said in a slightly cold, slightly rage worthy tone, knowing full well what this spell would do as he stretched out his two hands and directed them, palms open at the two stones, some dark green, vibrant violet and black energy appearing around his hands as he began to read from the paper with writing, mumbling some gibberish. After about five seconds both the Lens of Clarity and the Stone of the Mental Scribe began to glow with the same color magic that was on his hands, rose two inches into the air and began to slowly spin around in a circle, one to the polar opposite of each other, accelerating as they did, several sparks of thin lightning bouncing between each of them.

* * *

Kaguya Beach:

Golden locks erupted from the blue waters as Cagalli emerged from the shallow depths of the sea, catching her breath and wiping the clear water away from her eyelids as she floated in the liquid, wearing just a two piece swimsuit that was vertically stripped with a shade of yellow and a shade of orange. As the Princess of ORB looked around the area she noticed several things around her: One, Flay and Lacus were on the beach, laying on their towels, with the pinkette wearing a blue and white swimsuit and the red head wearing a red one, and two, Kira, Nicol, Sai and Dearka were messing around with a beach ball, as if they were playing volley ball, but wit no net. Something was missing though.

"Where's Athrun?" She thought to herself, raising her arms out of the water and swimming across the shoreline, the engagement band on her right hand reflecting light from the sunny, warm sun above and bouncing into her eyes as she did, causing a slight, but bearable tingle as she kept her distance from the shore constant, looking for her fiance, trying to lock onto his distinct dark blue hair, but finding no luck thus far. "Athrun, where are you?" She whispered, scanning the scalps of all the people on the beach. Today was a bright day, as per usual, and because of that the inhabitants of Kaguya, as well as different parts of ORB itself, should they have chosen to make the journey, were having a good time. "Hey, Athrun... where the hell are you?" She raised her voice a couple of decibels, clearly annoyed and frustrated, when suddenly...

"Gulllllppppp..." The Princess of ORB's eyes shot wide open as she took a deep breath before she found herself underwater, being pulled down by an unknown entity that had gripped her feet tightly and dragged her down into the two meter deep depths that she was in, quickly pulling it's hands off of her ankles and transferring them to the sides of her body, just above her hips as she found herself turned around one hundred and eighty degrees, holding her breath for dear life as she faced that which she had been looking for. "Azzzlun?" She breathed out some air, trying to speak beneath the waves as her distorted gaze identified his thin but somewhat toned figure, blue locks floating in the water, the specks of his verdant green pupils, wearing nothing more than baggy white trunks as he shook his head at her reaction before closing in and locking lips with her underwater, the Princess' eyes shooting open to an even wider degree as Athrun's closed down tight, the two of them rising upwards from there, their heads exiting the water a few seconds later as Cagalli pulled away and began to take a deep breath.

"Looking for me?" He smirked, his hands still tightly wrapped around her body as he tilted his head to one side.

"Athrun... what was... that for. You scared me..." Cagalli said in between her breaths.

"Just a little surprise, hope you don't mind." He smiled back, the water flowing down from his head and onto the top of his chest before entering the ocean.

"Yeah, well... okay that was a little fun, I'll admit... but you better not do it again, buster!" She gave him a partially pissed off look, unable to fully express herself as she gazed into his eyes, her right hand coming out of the water and pointing at him sternly as he chuckled.

"Alright then... I wonder how the other girls are doing..." He looked over to the shore and noticed Flay and Lacus chatting.

"Pah, I wouldn't worry about them. They wanted to come to the beach just to relax in the sun... even though you can easily do that from Ono'goro..." Cagalli explained.

"Well... there's something about the beach though, Cagalli... it's just... purer, and lighter." Athrun responded.

"Pah, not that that _really _matters." Cagalli joked as Athrun dropped his smile.

"Oh, but it does, my love." He closed in again and locked lips with her on his own impulse. 'My... Cagalli...' He thought, breaking away. "I'm going to go check on the boys, alright?" He took his hands off of her frame and turned around. "Why don't you come with me?" He asked, floating away from her somewhat.

"Pah, Kira doesn't let me play that much. Says it's so I don't get hurt... cause if I do my dad will have a fit!" She raged, the Paladin chuckling as she did.

"Well, you are a girl and you might be an easier target." He joked as she spread both arms out.

"Gah, screw you!" Cagalli raged, bringing her hands together and sending several large waves directly at Athrun.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the cave where Shinn was in:

Ribbons of dark purple magic continued to race around the black haired boy, his mouth still uttering gibberish to the objects in front of him as the two stones that he had selected and picked out continued to circle each other, but now at an even quicker pace, each of them making one full, three hundred and sixty degree rotation every half second. At the same time the two top pieces of paper were starting to glow an arcane blue, a string of bright blue and dark violet energy slowly coming out of each one of them, heading towards the center of the circle where the two stones were spinning and combining together. Lastly, a bright yellow lightning bolt randomly erupted from the area five feet away from the boy's left, blitzing directly at him and then striking the dark, ethereal ribbons around him, taking a piece of it away and then bouncing off, striking the ground around ten feet in front of him, the two magics seeming to 'combine' in a sense as something that seemed to resemble a portal in the making, but darker, began to appear.

'Won't be too long now... just a little longer...' Shinn thought to himself, maintaining his concentration.

* * *

"Pfft... look at them fooling around with themselves like that. They come all the way to the beach just to do something they could have done in the field outside of the city." Flay groaned as she sat up on the beach next to Lacus, soaking up the warm rays.

"Boys will be boys, Flay. Besides, it was Cagalli's idea in the first place and we did say we would meet up today... and you know just how loyal Kira is to her sometimes." Lacus replied, her pale toned skin trying to absorb the light as well.

"Well, it appears that she's having a good time, but did you see what Athrun did to her? Good grief!" The red haired girl exclaimed.

"Yeah, I saw that too. And then he went to go do his thing with the other guys... although sometimes I do wish that sometimes they would let her in. Me, no? You? Probably not. But Cagalli? She's more like a guy trapped in a women's body sometimes."

"I bet she could probably play better than Nicol sometimes. It's funny because sometimes I get the impression that he's a girl trapped in a guy's body." Flay added as Lacus blushed slightly, bringing a red tinge to her otherwise light skin.

"Hey, out of all of them I think that Nicol is actually the least immature. Yeah, sure, Dearka can be calm but at other times he's cocky. Kira gets serious when it comes to Cagalli's safety sometimes that he ruins the fun when there's no good reason too. Athrun can sometimes be a little invading on privacy as we just saw, and Sai is sometimes a little too smart for his own good. Nicol? I've seen him in action sometimes at the Monastery, and when he needs to be serious and focused... and think? He is and he does." Lacus ranted a little bit as the green haired teen dived into the water and hit the ball with his fists, sending it Kira's way, the Crown Prince, who head butted it over to Sai, who fumbled a little and then let it fall.

"Yeah yeah... I agree. Then again Kira's... the Prince. Out of all of us he's actually the only one who has a sibling, and he's responsible for her safety. I don't agree about Sai though... you can never be too smart sometimes... especially when your friends didn't cover everything in class and the teacher pulls a pop quiz on some vague spell or old, wrinkly Mage." Flay added as Lacus simply made a 'huh' sound.

* * *

Once again, in the cave:

The magical blue and purple energy that had emanated from the pieces of paper Shinn had set onto the ground, the same strands of power that made their way to the center of the invisible circle that both the Lens of Clarity and Stone of the Mental Scribe were spinning around, had now formed into a mixed, swirling vortex of energy, almost like a whirlpool, but with no depth. At the same time the two stones were now a complete blur for the most part unless someone's eyes were tracking them directly and trying to keep specific tabs on one of them, and that was something that Shinn was not doing. At the same time several more 'dark portals', three more in total, were forming in various locations around the cave.

'Just a few more moments... just a few more moments... don't let this slip...' Shinn continued to concentrate, still babbling gibberish.

* * *

The five swim-trunked boys; Kira, Athrun, Sai, Nicol and Dearka were standing in a pentagon formation, bouncing the beach ball back and forth between each other as the stood in one of the shallower areas of the water, the waves, on average, up to their stomachs. Dearka was the tallest at six foot three and Nicol was the shortest at five foot six, with Kira, Athrun and Sai in between the two in terms of decreasing height.

The ball bounced from Sai to Dearka to Athrun, back to Dearka and then to Kira, who patted it over to Nicol, and the game continued with each and everyone of them keeping tabs on it, while not focusing on what was approaching the middle of their circle from in between Athrun and Dearka.

"Take this, Kira!" Athrun bounced the ball upwards and then pounded it over towards the brunette, purple eyes narrowing as he did.

'You're on, Athrun!' Kira thought, preparing to receive the ball and bounce it towards someone else, probably Dearka as something unexpected happened.

"GOT IT!" Cagalli screamed, literally leaping out of the water and just barely managing to catch the ball with the tips of her thin, sexy fingers before crashing into the waves below, her head still sticking up.

"Wait... Cagalli! Are you alright?" Kira asked with urgency as he closed in on her as she laughed.

"Haha... yeah, I'm fine... I just had to crash your guy's party for once... hehe..." She smiled at Kira as he bent over and looked at her. "Are you mad?"

"Well... no... but..." Kira tried to say.

"So does that mean I can join you?" Cagalli asked as Kira blushed, unable to respond and thinking of an answer when he was called out.

"Kira..." Athrun said in a demanding tone, as if his mind and focus had completely shifted from the game in it's entirety.

"What..." Kira turned away from Cagalli for a second and looked at Athrun, who was gazing intensely towards the north, where the rocky cliffs were. Heck, both Nicol and Dearka were too, and Sai to some extents, but not to the same extremes.

"Do..." Nicol tried to mutter.

"... feel it?" Dearka asked.

"Dark energy..." Athrun stated.

"A strong dark presence, as if a spell is reaching it's climax." Sai warned as Kira leaned down and literally grabbed Cagalli by the waist and picked her up onto her two feet and let go of her, his facial expression having had shifted into something a little more serious.

"Whoa!" Cagalli yelped, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Yeah, I feel it..." Kira scanned the area, noticing that for the most part, nine out of ten people were still doing whatever they were doing, while others had dropped their acts and shifted their attention.

"What's going on?" Cagalli asked with wonder as Kira turned his attention to her.

"Cagalli, it's time to go to the shore. The same applies to all of you. Come on, let's go." Kira ordered, taking command as the six of them began to trudge through the water.

'So that means... the fun stops? Awe... man...' Cagalli thought in her head.

* * *

"NOW!" Shinn yelled, energy shooting out of his hands towards the vortex floating above the piece of paper, violently mixing with it as the two enchanted stones stopped spinning in the exact same place as they were before, the small vortex of energy being sucked into both objects for the most part, only forming an energy bridge between them as the clear opal; the Lens of Clarity began to display an image inside of it, although this image was blurry and it would be very difficult to make out what it was. However the image began to clear up and become easier to see and just as it became clear enough that someone would be able to see what was being shown all the power from the stone burst out and transferred over to the Stone of the Mental Scribe, the dark gem absorbing all the power before landing on top of the blank piece of paper, the darkness inside of it, the blackness, the ink coloring starting to fade as if it was bleeding out from the stone onto the piece of paper, the ink arranging itself around the page as if it was writing itself down onto the paper. Once all the black coloring left the stone it took on the appearance of a normal, slate rock. At the same time the dark portals that were forming, which were now five in total, began to open up.

"Alright, it's done! I'm gone, now!" Shinn said to himself, his voice frantic and filled with haste as he quickly, without even looked what was on them, grabbed the three pieces of paper he had paid attention to in his right hand and the rest of them in his left, standing up on his two feet before looking at the rocks beneath him which were now powerless, the Lens of Clarity now a dull brown and gray, completely opaque and contrasting what it was before, Shinn randomly kicking both the two power exhausted rocks as well as the other stones he had in the bag off into the distance, spreading them around the cave as he began to run out as quickly as his teenage legs could carry him, his hair flowing in the breeze, and the water skin bouncing back and fourth off of his back as he did. Once he exited the cave he looked around, and noticed no one... there was still a large rock formation in between him and the beach and so no one would see him making his escape, the red eyed boy taking a left turn and running further north. "It's going to happen any moment now..." He said to himself, clutching the three pieces of paper he had before with all his might as he let the others go directly into the water, the liquid combination of hydrogen and oxygen soaking them as they sank to the shallow depths, Shinn himself running along a flat stone path at the water's edge. "Now..." He said to himself, looking back at the cave.

* * *

"Kira... I still don't understand what this is all about..." Cagalli said ignorantly as she stood behind her brother, the entirety of the beach's population having had made their way to the shore, the few Auilyets that were there having had warned everyone else of the dark power they had detected, and fearing for the worst.

"Cagalli... it's..." Kira tried to say to his sister, when suddenly...

"_**RRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRR!**_" Burst from the northern rock cliffs, the piercing howl of some kind of wild animal... some kind of wicked, dark creature echoing throughout all of the land and most of Kaguya itself, making itself heard as the people on the beach grunted after having heard something so loud and foul. Indeed... something was coming their way... and it was coming soon...


	4. Encounter with the Bloodmuts

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED/Gundam Seed Destiny

* * *

Last Chapter:

"_"Kira... I still don't understand what this is all about..." Cagalli said ignorantly as she stood behind her brother, the entirety of the beach's population having had made their way to the shore, the few Auilyets that were there having had warned everyone else of the dark power they had detected, and fearing for the worst._

_"Cagalli... it's..." Kira tried to say to his sister, when suddenly..._

_"__****__**RRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRR!**__" Burst from the northern rock cliffs, the piercing howl of some kind of wild animal... some kind of wicked, dark creature echoing throughout all of the land and most of Kaguya itself, making itself heard as the people on the beach grunted after having heard something so loud and foul. Indeed... something was coming their way... and it was coming soon..."_

* * *

And now, inside the cave where Shinn was casting his spell:

The 'dark portals' which had been given creation while the black haired, red eyed teenager were closing now, one after the other, and in their place, several terrifying creatures stood in their place.

A deep, dark, and dangerous growling sound could be heard throughout the caves as an animal-like foot with three toes stepped onto the rocky ground inside it, the toes of this foot being adorned with three razor sharp, pitch black claws that looked as if they could punch through a human's skin rather easily. Attached to this foot was a leg, and onto it, a body of a _demon._ Shape wise, this demon seemed to resemble a canine, and was around eight feet long and three feet high, except, unlike most breeds of canines, this creature was in no way, shape, or form cute. It had two average sized front legs and two very powerful looking hind limbs. Rather than having a coat of fur lining it's body, the demon's outer layer consisted of an array of many small, thick, blood red and hard scales that looked like the ones on a fish. The tail of this beast was around three feet long, making the main body five, and had a sharp spike at the end of it, in the same color and stylish 'feel' as the claws on each of the three feet. The head looked vicious and menacing, and unlike a normal dog where there were two eyes, this monster had only one large, purple monoeye in the middle of it's head. It's teeth were razor sharp but didn't appear to be that long and it's mouth was drooling a clear, gooey, sticky saliva. The beast's ears were long, almost foot long scaly 'elf ears' and came out of the head at a forty five degree angle backwards, and to top it all off the demon had a large, piercing sharp black horn jaunting out of it's head, this horn being around seven inches long and looking like it could easily run someone through.

Large globs of drool began to plummet to the cavern's floor as _these creatures,_ of which there were eight in all, began to slowly walk towards the entrance of the cave, the leading animal sniffing the air before it's large eye began to grow with lust, causing it to raise it's large snout up into the air and let out a loud, piercing howl across the area.

* * *

"What was that?" Cagalli asked as she stayed by Kira and Athrun's side, behind the two Auilyets as the howl, which was quickly followed by several other similar sounds, broke into the hearing senses of every living human being, Auilyet or Skelyet, that was at the beach.

"Kira..." A frightened Sai, who looked to be extremely stressed and filled with great anxiety said as he walked up to his brunette friend, tapping lightly on his right shoulder as the Frozen Blade turned to face him, his expression one that reflected the fragile state of affairs that was now taking place on the beach. "Do you think those could be...?" Sai tried to ask.

"Bloodmuts... yeah, I think that could be what they are... from what we were told they were supposed to sound like in class..." Kira stated, a fragile, cold, but quickly melting calm in his voice.

"Bloodmuts? Kira... Sai? Are you two..." Athrun protested, his verdant eyes widening as he turned to the Crown Prince, only to receive a positive nod. "Dammit! How could foul, dark, impure creatures such as those get into ORB? Who's responsible for this!?" Athrun semi-raged, clenching and shaking his right fist with a zealous devotion.

"It doesn't matter, we'll figure that out later. For now... though... we've got to deal with all these people around here... those things are dangerous." Sai explained, shaking from worry as Cagalli stayed behind the three of them with her right hand on top of her mouth.

"Alright then, here's the plan..." Kira was interrupted as an even louder sound came from the nearby caves, indicating that the creatures had either howled louder or come closer, and Kira wasn't going to risk taking the former, not with a large number of people... his people, nearby and in potential danger. "Sai, tell Dearka and Lacus to gather up _everyone_, Skelyet or Auilyet, ORB citizen of just visiting, and have them get them all to safety. Then I want you and Flay to quickly teleport back to Ono'goro... Castle Hill, and demand to speak to my father about this and warn him. Tell any guards who try to get in your way that **I **personally sent you there by royal order, and that I accept any responsibility that comes with interrupting what my father was currently doing, alright?" He turned to Athrun. "You, I, and Nicol will deal with the Bloodmuts, alright?" Kira asked as his blue haired friend gave him a look of confidence.

"Alright then, let's go, Kira!" Athrun announced, raising his voice somewhat before turned around and yelling: "NICOL!"

"Wait... Kira..." Sai once again put his hand on the Prince's shoulder. "I don't think you should go out there and fight yourself." Sai informed as Kira quickly turned and faced him.

"What? Are you joking? Those things... could..." The Frozen Blade's voice went hot like a blacksmith's furnace.

"Exactly... you're the Crown Prince! And besides... whatever summoned those things... it could not have been an accident. What if whatever did that is trying to lure you out and see just how powerful you are? To gauge your strength? To see your Gunram powers in action? After all, you're the next leader of our people... and besides, if you stay back then you'll be able to explain the situation to the civilians much more easily... they'll recognize you and your authority. Please, Kira..."

"Pah, Nicol and I should be able to deal with whatever demonic mongols are coming our way, right?" Athrun asked as the green haired Paladin took to his left side.

"Yeah." He gave a thumbs up as Kira gave off a defeated sigh.  
"You're right, this wasn't an accident. Fine then... Athrun, Nicol, I'm letting you handle this. Sai... you and Flay know what to do." Kira said as he turned and faced Cagalli. "Come on, Cagalli. Let's get you to safety." He grabbed his twin's right arm and began to drag her along. "ALRIGHT EVERYONE..." He tried to yell to the worried, chaotic, and confused crowds behind him as another large volley of howls echoed from the caves and rock formations to the north, the Frozen Blade turning around for a second to take note of the Bloodmuts coming right after them, with barred fangs and razor sharp horns reflecting the sunlight.

"ALRIGHT NICOL, LET'S GO!" Athrun yelled with complete vigor.

"RIGHT!" Nicol responded as the two of them began to close their eyes and concentrate, bright, white and yellow holy magic forming around their bodies and glowing, seeming to burst into righteous, warm fire around them as it started to 'stick' to their skin and spread around their bodies, materializing as it did; materializing as armor.

"AHHHHH!" Both of them yelled as they were enveloped in the energies, everyone around them being forced to shield their eyes from the bright light around them, a distinct, 'bright' rushing sound being heard from around Athrun and Nicol as the light began to fade, the two Paladins prepared for battle, wielding their Gunrams as well as the body armor that usually went along with it.

"Power of the Blitzing light, give me strength!" Nicol announced, now adorned with a set of sleek, dark gold and in some places, black and red armor, with bulky helmets and a helmet that had a red jewel on top of it, as well as a golden v-fin. Mounted on his right arm was a massive shield, that was primarily gold with some white and red on it, as well as what appeared to be the well hidden sheeth and hilt of a sword. On his left arm was a massive claw assembly with three red claws and a gold body assembly with small black wings on it.

"Blazing Justice, guide my path!" Athrun yelled, currently wearing a set of armor that appeared to be bigger, bulkier and slower than Nicol's, but still gave off a sense as if it was stronger and more durable than his friends. It was primarily red, white and black, with black around the chest and foot guards, and white lining the chest, edge of the shoulders, and knees. Everything else was a crimson red tone. On his head was a red helmet with a large white, red, and blue horn and a yellow v-fin. At the Paladin's sides were two sword sheaths with handles that looked as if they could be combined together, end to end and lacked guards. On his left arm was a red shield with a white outline and a golden metal stripe down the middle of it. On his shoulders were two white metallic objects that looked as if they could be unfolded and thrown. "Alright, let's go!" Athrun ordered, reaching into both of his sword sheaths and pulling out both of the blades, which seemed to glow bright red and yellow in the light, and were completely straight from the hilt till the end, with what appeared to be some sort of 'light bursting' effect in the metal at the base of each blade. Groaning with anger, the blue haired teen combined the blades together into a naginata before raising his shield on front of him and charging forward.

"Yeah, we'll teach them a lesson they won't soon forget!" Nicol growled, reaching inside his shield with his left arm and pulling from the sheeth, a one handed blade that seemed to glow with the same colors, but not as great of intensity as Athrun's, with an actual guard, thicker, curved blade, and an inscribed pattern in the middle of it's blade. The green haired warrior narrowed his eyes as he followed his friend up the coast towards the Bloodmuts which were heading towards them while the rest of the people began to gather around Kira, Cagalli, Dearka and Lacus while Sai and Flay each began to channel what seemed like a portal spell, but without holding hands and just to themselves.

* * *

Standing far away on the edge of a cliff off in the distance, behind a rock boulder, and unseen from all who were below him on the beach, was Shinn, looking down below onto the area that was to become a pool of demon blood in a matter of moments, the wind blowing gracefully through his hair as he gave off an intense but calm look on the area below.

"Bloodmuts... a weak breed. I have no doubt that those two zealots will be able to take them down." He scoffed.

* * *

Athrun and Nicol were about to get into melee range of the demonic dogs, the leading on jumping directly at Athrun from about five feet away, the sharp horn on it's head glistening in the light as it tried to impale his crimson armor directly in the chest, only to have Athrun duck somewhat, and thrust his naginata up into the air, tearing punching a hole into the Bloodmut's stomach and causing it to howl in pain, dark blue blood bursting out of both the hole in it's chest and the hole in the upper part of it's body where the blade existed, splashing onto Athrun's helmet in the process.

"Grr..." The blue haired Paladin grumbled. He didn't care about getting dirty, but he had to be on his toes now. "Get off me!" Athrun roared tilting his naginata down to the ground, the demon's body following suit as he stepped on it and forced it off, another Bloodmut coming in his direction from right in front of him, swinging it's long and sharp ended tail at him, Athrun literally jumping and performing a back flip to avoid it, swinging down with his double-ended blade and cutting the tail in half, severing the pointed, ebony tip off and causing the beast to screech in pain as Athrun managed to pull off a perfect landing behind where once was, _smiling _somewhat at the beast's suffering. "Nicol!"

"I'm fine!" The younger Paladin responded, finding a Bloodmut leaping at him as he readied himself, planting his armored feet firmly on the ground and holding his position as the scaly monster stretched out it's claws and attempted to slice him, only to find Nicol's shield blocking his path as it headbutted the gold metal. "ERRRRGGG!" The Paladin pushed his shield out, countering the canine's momentum and sending it to the ground on it's back before quickly rushing in, swinging downwards with his thick, curved blade right onto the beast's juggler, ending it right there and then. "You shouldn't have come here..." He said in a somewhat regretful tone, noticing yet another raging Bloodmut wildly charging at him dead on, it's mouth wide open and it's fangs barred, drops of drool flying out of it's maw as the light of ORB's bright sun glistened towards the tip of it's long, black horn. "Same applies to you..." Nicol grunted sidestepping the crazed demon to his left before slicing right down the middle of the beast's back and right side with his blade, forcing a large amount of cobalt liquid to gush out, the Paladin then quickly raising his shield in front of his face to avoid getting the stuff on his face or eyes. "Ehh..." He groaned, finding yet another beast running for him at full speed, Nicol preparing himself in response when suddenly...

"_**Bassel!" **_The voice of an angry Paladin filled the area as an object, that looked to be one of the white things folded on Athrun's shoulder armor flew through the air, spinning as it did, an ethereal blade that seemed to be made of pure white light coming out of it and emitting a large amount of energy as it struck the side of the Bloodmut, the light seeming to 'react' with the beast's body and cause it feel an immense amount of pain, the boomerang of light cutting right through it's torso like a hot knife through butter before coming around back and being caught in the air by it's owner as he held his right hand up in the air before folding it and placing it on his right shoulder.

"Athrun..." Nicol stated, looking at his friend.

"Sorry, just thought you might have had some trouble with that one, he did seem to be rather tough." Athrun warned, looking down onto the body of the Bloodmut, which seemed to be the largest of the eight that had attacked them, it' blue blood seeping from it's body onto the sand only to be swept up into the sea by the water as it lay on it's side.

"Yeah... whatever! Let's get the rest of them now!" Nicol stated to Athrun, the blue haired teen looking back up north to see three remaining demonic hounds retreating away in fear.

"Oh no they don't! Not on my watch!" Athrun raged with fury, disgusted at the cowardice of the demons as he proceeded to grab both of the boomerangs off of his shoulders and unfold them, their blades of light coming to life again and illuminating his body and armor.

"I'm not letting these dark beasts getting away so they can come back while we're gone!" Nicol prepared his left arm, winding it back as the claw mounted on it started to twitch. "ARRGGG!" He thrust forward. _**"**__**Gleipnir!" **_He screamed, the three-pronged claw launching off of his left arm, a string of light energy connecting it to his body still as the blades began to glow brightly, Athrun whipping both of his boomerangs as well, the three Bloodmuts, which were around fourteen feet away from them when they launched their weapons tried to get away, but found it too late as the one claw and two boomerangs struck their bodies, ripping through the dark red scales on their back and causing their monoeyes to go wide open as their blood burst from their bodies, the beasts falling into the ocean, dead, as the boomerangs returned back to Athrun and the claw was retracted back to Nicol's arm.

"Good... that's the last of them... let's get Kira." Athrun stated, breathing in a somewhat heavy fashion as he turned to Nicol, who was sweating a little.

* * *

Five minutes later, near the entrance to the cave where Shinn was:

Kira, Cagalli, Athrun and Nicol were all walking towards the entrance of the cavern, although at a very slow pace, being very careful just in case there were more Bloodmuts around, and for Cagalli's sake. The two Paladins had yet to 'deactivate' their Gunram powers and were still adorned in their armor, although their weapons were stored in their respective holders. As the three Auilyets stood in the front Cagalli was behind them, following. Kira would turn around to see if she was alright every couple seconds or so and it was kind of annoying but she knew it was futile to try to make him stop it. She had told her brother that she wanted to follow them and see what happened and although Kira refused at first, she told him that it would allow him to protect her directly, and that was something that both he, and Athrun, agreed too.

"This place reeks of dark magic... it's absolutely abominable! Disgusting!" Athrun stated, clenching his fists.

"I know... someone's going to need to come in here and purify it later!" Nicol added as the four of them approached the cave's entrance, wind blowing from the cliff up above them.

"Stay on your toes... there might be something in here, and this is definitely where the magic is at it's strongest." Kira warned coldly, the three Auilyets entering the cave as Cagalli followed, but stopped for a second, looking up above her to the cliff for a second, her eyes widening greatly as she blunk.

'What the...' She thought, lowering her head down and then raising it up again. 'I thought... I thought I saw the silhouette of someone standing up their... but now it's gone? Who?' She thought, clearly puzzled.

"Cagalli... don't stray too far, keep up." Kira demanded from inside the cavern as the blonde grumbled and followed him. "I don't see anything out of the ordinary in here... but I do sense that something happened earlier..." The Crown Prince stated in a mental vex, feeling the tinge of residual dark magic in the vicinity.

"Maybe there's something hiding in the shadows here!" Athrun yelled, pointing his arms out and opening his palms before two bright globes of energy erupted from them, illuminating the area so that they could see everything in the cave, but even as the four of them scanned the area, staying together, they found nothing.

"Damn... whoever was here did a 'good job' of covering their tracks." Nicol grunted.

"Or whatever..." Athrun cringed, causing Kira to shake his head.

"Well whatever... if Sai was hear I'm sure he might know of how to figure out what exactly happened... detect anything that might have been used. For now though we've found nothing. I say we head back... my father will want to see Cagalli and I any second now, considering what happened. It's best to not keep him waiting." Kira warned in a commanding tone before turning around and heading towards the entrance of the dark and damp cave, the three of them following him as Cagalli still remained slightly shocked at the whole situation, trying to understand just what had happened. 'Who was that?' She thought, trying to search through her mind somewhat. The figure seemed to be humanoid and was slim, and had hair that was in the same length as Kira's... but both Kira and Athrun, the only two people who she could think of with that length of hair... were right with her, right now.

* * *

ORB Throne Room:

The Throne Room of Castle Attha was a very large chamber situated in the middle tower of the building. It was two stories tall, had balcony's on the upper level and in the back there was a large stone mosaic of ORB's symbol, while there was a large, golden chandelier in the middle of the middle of the roof which emanated a great amount of light. There were also busts and portraits of past ORB loyalty mounted on the walls of the chamber, and in the middle of the floor was a stone drawing of ORB itself, with the southern side facing the King's throne and the northern direction facing the entrance. The throne itself was fit for Uzumi and appeared to be made of a dark wood with many cushions on it's seat and back, as well as two nice armrests. To it's left was Cagalli's throne and to it's right was Kira's. Right now though the Prince and Princess were missing and King Uzumi was dealing with a massive crowd of angry nobles, all infuriated at what had happened today at Kaguya.

"This is an absolute outrage!"

"What the hell could have done this! We haven't seen any sign of dark magic in years! Now this? It doesn't make any sense!"

"It does, considering the storm we had a couple days back! Still, we'd better brace for the worst!"

"Nonsense! This is ORB, the Kingdom of Light! No dark magic can harm us! Or else they'll face our righteous power!"

"Are you suggesting we do nothing in response to this?" The noble's continued to bicker and argue amongst one another as Grand Paladin Patrick Zala stood by Uzumi's side, with Commander Natarle Badgiruel nearby. Flay and Sai were standing together at the bottom of the steps, saying nothing but appearing to in a state of extreme nervousness.

"I wonder when we'll be able to leave?" Flay whispered to Sai.

"Don't ask me... something like this is serious... and considering we interrupted court... we'll probably have to stay until...' Sai tried to say as a guard, who was standing to his right bonked him on the head.

"Silence. You will speak when spoken too, Mages." The guard warned as the teen with glasses groaned in slight pain, the argument starting to pick up somewhat as the voice of the crowd increased it's volume... until.

"_**SILENCE!"**_ King Uzumi Nara Attha yelled at the top of his lungs, standing up out of his chair and causing both the Commander and Grand Paladin to step back somewhat as the King gazed seriously at the crowd below him, establishing order in his courtroom, all eyes fixed upon him until the large, golden doors of the throne room with the ORB logo engraved on them began to open up wide, two royal guardsman spreading them apart as Stewart stood in the doorway, several other figures behind him.

"Announcing Crown Prince Kira Gos Attha, Heir to the Throne of Light." The Stewart explained in a booming voice stepping aside to reveal the Prince, dressed in formal attire with a very serious and get-down-to-business expression adorning his face as he walked forward along the golden carpet which lead to the steps of Uzumi's throne. At the same time the King seemed to relax somewhat and sit back down in his chair but still look to be alert, the nobles to both sides of Kira whispering amongst themselves as Kira progressed down the path, their voices going completely silent the _second_ Kira knelt down in front of his father.

"Greetings, father. I see that my messengers arrived to you safely and you got my word." Kira stated softly, gesturing towards Sai and Flay.

"Ah.. Kira, so these two young Mages were indeed sent here by you?" Uzumi asked, tilting his head a little to the right, the rays of light bouncing off of his crown in just the right way.

"That is correct, father." The Frozen Blade answered coldly as Uzumi snapped his right middle finger and thumb, the guards near Sai and Flay saluting him.

"Highness." They responded in near perfect unison before taking the two of them away, Sai and Flay looking back at Kira with worry as he knelt before the King.

"So is it true... what they reported... that Bloodmuts... foul demons of the dark realm... were in Kaguya today?" Uzumi asked, tensing his voice slightly as Kira reached inside one of his right pockets and pulled something out before tossing it in front of him, the light reflecting off of it's blood red surface. It was a piece of skin with several Bloodmut scales on it, and as soon as it hit the ground the entire room began to gasp in total shock.

"Yes, it is true, father. We counted eight of them, coming from the rocky shore near the border between ORB and the Penumbral Woods. Eight Bloodmuts. No more, no less. As well as traces of a dark incantation coming from inside one of the caves just north of Kaguya. Every Auilyet in the vicinity felt a dark magic... like a spell was coming to completion... and then the Bloodmuts appeared. I managed to get everyone to safety and assign Flay Allster and Sai Argyle to return to Ono'goro and warn you of what happened. Is that satisfactory, father?" Kira asked, turning up to look at his King for a second before another voice threw him off.

"Well then, my Prince, how did you manage to deal with the Bloodmuts? And where is my son, Athrun Zala, as well as the other Paladins and Vindicators with you there?" Patrick Zala asked in a frustrated and hastened tone, wanting answers to his questions, and wanting them right this instant.

"And what of Princess Cagalli, Prince Kira?" Natarle Badgiruel added in a calmer, more clinical and controlled tone as Uzumi stuck his right hand up.

"Hang on... do not overwhelm my son with questions. I heard everything you said Kira... and from what I gather you handled the situation quite well." Uzumi stated.

"Thank you, father." Kira responded.

"However... the whereabouts of your friends... last I checked it wasn't just the three of you headed for Kaguya this morning... there were more than that. Now... what of them?" The King questioned, leaning forward slightly.

"Cagalli has been sent to her room for the time being, father. As for the rest of them... the Paladins and Vindicators... they have all been ordered to head back to the Monastery of the Light and stay there for now. I'm sure Grand Paladin Zala, once he returns to the Monastery, can question them if he so desires. Despite the confusion that took place there were no injuries today on our side... thankfully, and I'm pleased to report that Paladins in training Athrun Zala and Nicol Amalfi dealt with the Bloodmuts quiet handily." Kira stated as Patrick seemed to smile somewhat, pleased to hear of his son's excellent work today, with King Attha simply granting his son an approving nod.

"They were Bloodmuts... weak demons; a frail breed. It's unlikely that they could have been much of a threat anyway. It does not surprise me that two Paladins in training were capable of easily defeating them." Commander Natarle Badgiruel interjected.

"Bloodmuts? But demons... rotten, foul, evil demons nonetheless. Beings that do not belong in this land and should be purged at a moments notice! Yes they might have been just been a 'frail breed' but that task of defeating them should not be taken lightly, all things considered." Patrick stated in a tone that reflected slight vexation as Uzumi interrupted him.

"Grand Paladin and Commander of the Royal Magic Guard cease this argument immediately." The King stood up and looked down upon his heir. "Stand, Kira, my son, and take my side." Uzumi ordered as Kira nodded, standing straight up and walking up the steps to his chair and turning around the face the rest of the courtroom, his dark blue, silk cape flowing behind him. "Today we, the people of ORB, the Kingdom of Light, have found ourselves under attack by forces of dark magic, dark magic which will not, under any circumstances be tolerated! A couple of days ago it was a powerful thunderstorm... a dark thunderstorm... and today it was a group of Bloodmuts... it doesn't matter. What does matter is that now we are clearly under attack by some force of darkness that seeks to harm us in our own house, and that is something that I will not allow to happen. With that in mind the necessary steps will be taken in order to ensure the safety of our people! Is that understood? Whoever, or whatever is the source of the dark magic will be located and dealt with appropriately!" Uzumi stated clearly for all to hear as the people in the room, especially Patrick Zala, started to clap their hands together in applause.

* * *

Shinn's underground hideout:

"_**DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT!" **_The young teen yelled, stomping on the ground in his room as he raged furiously before winding up a punch and preparing to hit the wall. **_"DAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTT" _**He yelled, sending his right fist into the wall so hard he cracked it somewhat and send a few fragments of the metallic, matte black material flying away. "I can't believe this!" His voice cooled _somewhat _as he pulled back his fist, which was bleeding somewhat from the impact and tensed a little in response to the pain before looking back down upon the desk in front of him. The three pieces that he had taken with him were resting alone in one area of his work area. While the one with writing on it, as well as the one with the drawing of a dark item on it were still there, the one that _was _blank before was no longer just blank. Instead it had a drawing on it: A map of Ono'goro city, ORB's capital.

"Yes, I know it's in that blasted town... but where... where? I thought using the location spell with a Lens of Clarity would give me a map to it's specific location but this is too broad..." Shinn sighed, his voice defeated as he placed both his hands on the wall and leaned on it. "I guess I'll have to go in closer and then use the spell if I want to know just exactly where _it _is. After today though these light worshipers are probably furious... and if I do what did today in their capital... well then I guess I'll only have one shot at it... do it... or don't... this'll be fun... not." The black haired, red eyed boy huffed.

* * *

Author's Note: If you want to imagine the armor that Athrun and Nicol are wearing, think of the two of them in the actual armor the Justice and Blitz gundams, just in the colors that I described them with (because Nicol's wouldn't be black as a Paladin) and Athrun doesn't have a sublight lifter... so just think of him in the armor of the Justice. That's their Gunram powers. Just like how in chapter two I described Yzak in some robes? Yeah, that was his power, and his robes look like the Duel Assault shroud armor... hehe.

Until next time though... read and review plz!


	5. Sating Her Boredom and Annoying Him

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED/Gundam Seed Destiny

Sorry for the late update. Been handling other things. That being said, I've got a new chapter for those few who wish to read it.

CB13: Never played Kingdom Hearts, but good observation.

* * *

Chambers of Princess Cagalli Yula Attha, after King Uzumi Nara Attha addresses the Royal Court:

"What? Kira! You've got to be joking me, and this isn't the time for jokes!" Cagalli yelled, her voice filled with fury and her stance one of a women scorned as she stood in front of her brother, who kept his calm cool.

"I'm afraid not, Cagalli. If I was joking, I wouldn't be here, now would I?" Kira asked, tilting his head to one side and looking Cagalli in the eyes.

"Err..." She groaned annoyingly. "So I'm not going to be able to go to Kaguya anymore? This is... terrible! All because of one stupid, annoying, meaningless 'Bloodmut attack'!" She stomped on the ground and snapped her right hand fingers.

"Hey! It's not 'stupid, annoying' or anything like this, Cagalli. It's really, really serious!" Kira expressed. "If only you..." He whispered.

"If only I? If only I what?" She barked. "If only I was an _Auilyet _like you and not a worthless _Skelyet _who's only purpose is to be married off..." She groaned, clenching her fists for a second before being straight up slapped in the face by her older brother. "Gah, Kira!" She slapped back right out of the blue, causing him to grunt in pain.

"Cagalli, stop it!" Kira yelled. "You're not 'worthless', not by any stretch of the imagination! That's not you! That will never be you!"

"Hehe... I guess you're right. If I was worthless then you'd give no damn what I did, or where I went. Instead I'm just being controlled, told where to go... well I want to go to the beach!"

"You can't, it's dangerous!"

"I don't care! Go beg father to take let us go back to the beach! Surely you of all people can convince him, _Frozen Blade!_"

"I ALREADY TRIED!" Kira lost his cool, huffing a little at his sister's frustration, as well as his own. "He said no, not until this mess is cleaned up."

"And when will that happen?" She crossed her arms and spoke with poisonous sarcasm.

"I have no idea."

"Translation, never." She paused, rolling her eyes. "Goodbye, crystalline waters of Kaguya."

"Cagalli..."

"What?" She questioned in an annoyed tone.

"Listen, I'm going with Sai and some other mages to the location where we think the spell was cast tomorrow and we'll be searching for some evidence more thoroughly. Headmistress Murrue will be there too and I already had a small chat about it with Sai... I'm sure we'll find something minor and then once that happens father will let you go there again, alright? Just sit tight tomorrow." Kira begged, causing Cagalli to sigh, give in, and squeeze his torso, tight. "Alright... that's..." He tried to breathe as she let him go.

"Fine then... I'm counting on you, Kira. I really hope that this nonsense stops soon..." Cagalli groaned, heading for the balcony of her room as Kira nodded, and left. "Then what'll I do tomorrow?" She pondered for a few minutes as the sun began to descend onto the horizon and the wind blew in her hair, the Princess of ORB preparing for bed...

* * *

Morning after, Cagalli's room:

The young Princess woke up and went through her usual morning routine except something was off today, and that was simply put, she was slower and angry as she prepared herself for the day. It was a nice day out, with weather better than the day before even, if that were possible in ORB, and yet she couldn't go back to the beach and enjoy it. Oh how that made her mad, very, very mad. She even missed Kira as he prepared to head out to the Academy of the Arcanytim to prepare to leave for Kaguya and investigate what would be going on there.

"This stinks... at least I might be able to go to the Monastery and talk with... Athrun." She stated the last world blissfully, looking towards the direction of the Monastery of the Light as she prepared to cross the bridge from Royal Hill towards Ono'goro's mainland. "Yes, I think I'll go there, or at least talk to Lacus." She began to run across the bridge, however little did she know, she was being watched, as per usual.

"Cagalli... Mana told me you were upset... but it's for your own good, my daughter. I couldn't ever bear to see harm befall you or your brother... or worse..." King Uzumi stated, his tone taking on a slightly bitter taste as he finished. From the balcony the lone King stood, watching his daughter rush towards her fiance's home, a slight smile on his face as he turned to head back inside for the sake of performing the duties of a King.

"Would you like it if I assign some of my men to watch over her?" A Castle Guard asked, wearing a high ranking uniform as he approached the King, only to receive a disapproving gesture from the monarch's head and hands.

"No... she's fine within Ono'goro. Let her do her own thing. Just remind the guards at the gates to make sure she doesn't leave the capital." Uzumi ordered.

"Your Majesty." The guard bowed and left.

* * *

North Ono'goro town gates:

A certain raven haired, red eyed mischief maker made his way inside the city at a casual pace, observing the area around him and mentally taking notes of how they were reacting to what happened yesterday, if he caught wind of their reactions.

'The people here... they're acting normal, as it's just a normal day, but some of them do seem to be a bit on edge about what happened... well then, there will be a lot more where those Bloodmuts came from.' Shinn smirked quietly as he walked around a corner, only to be forced to shield his ears and close his eyes in pain.

"EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! DEMONS ATTACK KAGUYA! TOWN IN FRIGHT!" A small boy, of about six years old yelled at the tip top of his lung capacity, standing in front of a wagon full of news paper articles with an older, humble man of about sixty five standing near it, smiling.

'Dammit. I'll rip you're head off... annoying rat!' Shinn mentally raged, turning towards the small child and looking him angrily in the eyes, although the child gazed upon him with a joyous expression.

"Hello Mr. would you like to buy a paper today? They're selling like love potions during Valentines Day."

"Uh... uh..." Shinn backed off a little. Yes, at first his initial reaction; his impulse, was to freak out. However in a city like Ono'goro? Big mistake, at least this early on. "Uh..." He reached into his pocket. "How much?" He asked.

"Five Seidun per paper. Oh, and, give it to me, if you will." The older man stated in a pleasant voice, referring to one of ORB's three tiers of currency and in fact, it's lowest currency, the Seidun.

"Alright then..." Shinn fumbled around a bit in his pocket and then eventually pulled out a dull, bronze coin with an impression of ORB's symbol on one side and the equivalent of a Japanese symbol for 'five' on the other side, reached over to the old man and placed it in his hands before gently taking a paper from the boy. "Thank you..." He stated. 'Not..."

"My grandson does the announcing act quiet well, eh?" The elder inquired.

"Uh... yeah, he does." Shinn lied in an acceptable tone, heading the other way. 'Like hell he does... I think my ears were about to bleed...' He groaned, finding his way towards an unoccupied bench and sitting down on it before opening the paper up. 'Now, let's see how much trouble they think I caused them...' Shinn cracked a smile and began to read. 'Eight of them in all... really I conjured that many with a simple location spell? Taken down by two Paladins... then again they were Bloodmuts.' He rolled his red eyes. 'Princess and Prince were at Kaguya that day." Shinn placed his right hand onto his chin and raised his right eyebrow. 'Then again, I think I did see _her _there at the last second. Hmm... King has assigned a team to go and inspect the place and cleanse it?' Red eyes grew larger. 'Cleansing, I don't care about... but they might be able to catch onto just what it is I'm trying to do if they find the remnants of the two stones I used to perform the spell... dammit! I've got to be careful from now on...' He stood up and folded the paper in. 'Just... be a little more careful...' He laughed somewhat, chuckling to himself as a pair of city guards walked by him and gave him angry eyes, causing him to cease his laughter. 'Drat... if they find out I was _laughing _about what happened yesterday... keep your cool, Shinn. Don't blow cover. The sooner you find the Sothoth the better... the sooner you get it, the sooner you can say goodbye to this horrible land!' He clenched one fist and walked away.

Monastery of the Light:

Cagalli was sitting at a tea table alongside Lenore Zala, Athrun's mother.

"Damn, that's too bad then. How long do you think it'll be until Athrun's done his training for the day?" Cagalli questioned as she took a sip of tea after.

"Oh, I don't know, dear Princess. The way my husband is today..." Lenore looked towards a window which led out into the courtyard. "Might be hours. He's got all the students working at full capacity just in case anything happens. There's no telling when Athrun will be done." Lenore explained, looking back to her future daughter-in-law.

"Oh, okay then, Mrs. Zala. I guess I'll be on my way then quickly." She finished her tea in one big, fat gulp before rising from her chair. "Cya."

"Oh, but you could always go down and watch, Princess Cagalli. I'm sure neither my husband, nor my son would mind." Lenore stated as Cagalli gave a quick, but not rude shake of her head.

"No, but thank you. I'll probably come over tomorrow unless Athrun comes to the castle. Tell him that, will you." Cagalli informed, leaving at a somewhat quicker-than-normal pace.

* * *

Cave north of Kaguya where Shinn cast his spell:

Four figures entered the dark cavern, each of their members wearing an ORB Uniform and consisting of Crown Prince Kira, Headmistress Murrue Ramius, Sai Argyle, and another, taller male figure who seemed to be more for protection than anything else.

"Wow... I never actually noticed how comfortable these uniforms were until now. Never wore one before..." Sai commented.

"It's nice, isn't it. I feel the same way." Kira added as the older brunette continued on into the middle of the cave.

"You said that it was around here, that was were the magic was at it's strongest, right?" Murrue asked, kneeling to the ground and scanning the area.

"Yes... right where you're standing. Can you feel some trace amounts of power there?" Kira asked.

"Yes, a small fragment. Very faded but it is dark magic... powerful dark magic. Now come closer and look around for any... thing that might be suspicious. Especially the rocks... whoever did this probably had some kind of regent with them." Murrue ordered as the two teenagers came closer and began to scan the cave floor before them, looking through all the little pebbles and bits of sand and dust.

"Gah, what are we... supposed to exactly find? Like, how do we identify of something was a regent before?" Kira asked as he checked from pebble to rock to sand, finding nothing out of the ordinary.

"You... just get the feel that it isn't normal. It comes to you, Kira... like this!" Sai stated proudly as he stood up, cupping something in his hands and then walked over to the Headmistress. "Here." He gave it to her, Murrue placing the small rock right up to her eyes and staring at it deeply.

"Hehe, well I guess I'll be searching for a bit because I can't..." Kira stated, reaching across the floor with his right hand as he felt a tingling sensation in his longest right finger and turned to look where it was. A little ways away was a dull rock, that didn't look like anything significant, at least not at first. However, as the Crown Prince picked up the rock he felt some sort of faint arcane power emanate from it.

"I guess you spoke too soon, Kira." Sai giggled as the Headmistress diverted her attention to Kira.

"Let me see it. The one Sai brought me definitely looks to be like a Lens of Clarity." Murrue stated, the Prince waltzing over to her and placing the other stone in her hand. "And this..." She felt its weight and looked at it's shape and size, and felt it's texture. "Stone of the Mental Scribe." The jaws of both boys dropped.

"How can you so easily tell?" Sai asked.

"Yeah... I wouldn't know that from another rock besides that small feel I got in my finger. Doesn't look significant to me!" Kira stated as Murrue smiled.

"Practice... years of practice. It's what happens when you and your friend throw used regents into a pile and then try to decipher what they were before their power was expended. Now, which of you two knows what kind of spells can be used with a Lens of Clarity and a Stone of the Mental Scribe?" She asked, looking upon the two young mages before her, with Kira scratching the back of his head with his left hand while Sai closed his eyes for a second and went into a philosophical pose.

"Ugh... hmm..." Kira grumbled.

"Got it! I know... an err... location spell?" Sai questioned as Murrue nodded.

"Of the sorts. A long range location spell. The question is, who or what cast this spell and what are they after?" Murrue inquired. "That, my students, is a mystery."

"And what caused the Bloodmuts to actually appear? I've never seen that before." Sai asked, only to receive a clear answer from Kira.

"The Absoluz Luminos... the spell cast all around ORB." He said, Murrue nodding in return.

"You're right. The Absoluz Luminos is responsible for the Bloodmuts. It's what powers our bright weather and sunny skies everyday and if a magic is used within these lands that is not of the schools used by mages or light wielders... it reacts to the magic. In the case of the dark magic, it caused the eight demons to spawn."

"But why would it do that?" Sai asked in a protestful tone.

"So we can tell when someone who 'isn't wanted' is in ORB, friend." Kira grunted in return.

"Indeed. The spell has covered ORB for a long time... and will continue to cover it and protect our land for generations to pass. However, that's besides the question." The women looked around the room for anything else, feeling nothing. "I think we've acquired what we came for... now to head back home. Your parents will be proud to hear of your exploits, Sai. And Kira, your father will wish for you to present him with this news." Murrue informed, the two of them nodding back. "But first, however..." She snapped her fingers and a long, intricate staff appeared from the air, materializing out of nothing. This was the same staff that was leaning on her bookshelf when she met with Natarle and Patrick a couple days back and she gripped it tight before slamming it down on the ground with a loud thud, a few volts of light blue electricity seeming to fly off of the staff and onto the ground, Kira ans Sai stepping back as the small, faint presence of dark magic in the area seemed to cease. "There... this area has been purified of whatever magic was here... now we can go back." She stated, the staff seeming to dematerialize in her hands.

* * *

Cagalli, as she walks through Ono'goro:

The young Princess of the Kingdom of Light made her way through her capital with a huff. While people in the city did manage to wave 'hello' to her and while she did greet them and reply back, there was almost nothing right now that could cure her sour mood about the day as she walked forward with her head down.

'Can't leave Ono'goro... Kira's gone... can't see Athrun or the others... guess I'd better just walk around and perhaps sit down at the park or something for the time being.' She grumbled. 'Gah, but even there's nothing to do. Ono'goro isn't a playground... it's the city of nobles and royalty! It's...' She thought to herself until she came to an abrupt stop, going backwards a little bit until she stabilized herself and tilted her head up.

"Watch where you're going! Sheesh!" An angry, masculine voice spoke with a hint of fury at the Princess, who put on her angry eyes and stared right into his, gold to _red_.

"How about you!" She retorted as the two growled at each other and stepped forward, until Cagalli looked at the kid more closely. He had red eyes, black hair, and a somewhat colorful attire. 'Wait, I've seen you before...' She thought, the expression on her face lifting somewhat.

'Damn this girl... oh crap! Is that her... the Princess of this joint? Dammit! I'll get in a ton of trouble if I mess around with her right in the middle of this city.' Shinn thought to himself. "Ugh... sorry... I'd best be off." He spoke as she grabbed his right arm, hard.

"Hang on, I've seen you before... what's your name... Shinn?" She asked in a peculiar fashion.

"Ugh, yeah. My name's Shinn. Sorry for bumping into you. I guess we'll part ways now." He responded hastily, trying to get his arm back as she held on. "What gives?" He grunted.

"What's the rush?"  
"I've got some... err... stuff to do."

"Mind if I tag along?" She asked, causing his eyes to widen.

'OH COURSE I MIND!' He thought to himself. "Why do you want to?"

"Because I'm bored and I've nothing to do. So, if you don't mind..." She edged, on, giving him a sly look.

"DO I have to let you follow me around?"

"Well, I am the Princess. I have the ability to express a certain degree of influence over my subjects. And even if you don't follow me around, there's _nothing _preventing me from following you around. Besides, you seem like an interesting fellow, to say the least." Cagalli stated, smiling.

"Gah, fine. Just answer one question then. Why the hell do I seem like an 'interesting fellow'. I'm walking around town for... Haumae's sake! How many people are doing that? Huh?" He moved in closer and got a little more aggressive with his tone, but not hostile.

"A lot of people are walking around, but me? I've haven't see much of you and you just come off as intriguing. I like your red eyes, by the way. Never seen anyone with that shade before." She stated.

"Meh, whatever. If you want to follow me then, by all means, follow me." Shinn stated as he began to walk off, with Cagalli behind him/by his side. 'That's because no one in ORB is 'corrupted' enough to have 'red' eyes.' He rolled his irises. 'Still, with her following me, I wont' be able to do much... not what I intended.' He thought as began to speak again.

"Tell me, Shinn... you said you got here over a week ago... from where? Where did you come from?" Cagalli questioned.

"I came from... across the sea. One of the Kingdoms over there." Shinn motioned his head towards the East.

"Oh, I see. We trade with many of those lands a lot. Care to tell me which Kingdom you lived in before you came here?" She inquired once more.

"I lived in all of them, I move around a lot. Truth be told I'll only be here for a month or so... and then... well you'll forget I was ever here."

"Oh, so a traveler, are you? One who wishes to go from Kingdom to Kingdom and see their marvels... I wish I could do that one day, perhaps on my honeymoon after I'm married, if _his father _allows it and doesn't convince _my father _to forbid it." Cagalli groaned the last bit out.

"Wait, are you engaged? Never heard about that before." Shinn stated, a bit surprised, although not by much. "

"Yeah, and you saw him before. Remember the first day we met? Sitting next to my brother. The guy with blue hair. His name is Athrun and he's one of the greatest Paladins in training."

'That pompous looking guy? There's nothing 'great' about Paladins either. They are dogmatic and they are blinded by their own light, although if I said that there's a chance that some people would react... and not in a good way.' Shinn snorted.

"What?"

"Nothing... hopefully you'll find happiness in your marriage!" He stated, his tone completely fake although because Cagalli was behind him she couldn't see the lying expression on his visage.

"Err... well, thank you. So, how old are you? You look pretty young to have been traveling all around Cosmosera." Cagalli questioned as the two rounded a corner and began to walk through a market place.

'This place is thick and full of people although there's slim chance I'll be able to make my way through it and lose her considering how intent she is on asking me twenty questions.' Shinn thought.

"Well? I'm eighteen and so is my brother, but how old are you?" Cagalli asked after receiving no reply.

"Err.. I'm seventeen. I have family around the continent to the East who help me in my travels. However one day I decided to come to the West and check things out and I thought it would be a challenge considering there's no one here but me... nevertheless I'm perfectly fine with taking care of myself. I've got the skills." Shinn lied.

"You've got the skills? Wait, are you an Auilyet? What kind?" He stopped midway as she asked that question and turned around to face her. She had her arms crossed and a slightly ticked look in her eyes that could pierce anything.

"Er... I'm a mage, albeit not a great one, but good enough." Shinn answered as she let down her arms.

"Oh, good. I thought if you were something else... that could be... bad for you." She breathed a sigh of relief. "Maybe one day before you leave... you could come and say hello to my brother. He's great." She suggested, and as she did, Shinn took an immediate turn around and began to walk away. "Hey, what's with the allergic reaction, jackass?" She asked him as several people in the marketplace turned around and looked at their Princess specifically, to which she addressed them. "Can't a Princess walk around her own city in peace and not be stared at by every Tom, Dick, and Harry?" She questioned, the citizens turning back around and minding their own business.

'Can't a Shinn just do his own thing? You're a brazen hypocrite, Princess.' He growled as she caught up to him.

"Well, do you want to meet my brother one day?"

"I prefer not to make deep relationships." He quickly retorted, getting a little angrier.

"Even if it's the Prince of ORB? And you're in a talking, friendly relationship with me right now! So what the hell gives?" She raged.

"**Only **because you made me? Or rather, are following me around, Princess!" He replied boldly as they left the marketplace. 'I think it's time to leave and perhaps come back another time of day. I'll lose her outside of the town.' Shinn thought, making a left turn towards where he knew the city gates were.

"So what? Isn't this interesting?"

"Not for me. You're the one asking me all the questions." Shinn replied.

"Okay then, ask me a couple questions. Pah!"

"Are you an Auilyet then? I want to know if the biggest annoyance in my life has magical powers." She grabbed his arm.

"Annoyance? Screw you!" She turned him around. "And for your information I... I am a Skelyet." She stated, clearly pissed off.

"Oh, alright then. Sorry I asked, but then again you wanted me to be the one asking questions!" He broke away and turned around again and headed for the exit of the city. They would be near one of the gates in a matter of moments.

"Fine then. I'll ask you one last question then, and then I'll leave you alone then, since I'm so annoying."

"Thank you!" He nearly yelled in a sarcastic joy.

"What's your last name?" She questioned. 'Is he leaving town? Trying to shake me off? Damn him!'

'The hell if I'll tell you what my last name is! If I tell you, you're likely to go back and spill it to your goodie goodie two shoes Paladin fiance and then I'll be damned if I ever leave this place, alive!' Shinn thought to himself, ignoring Cagalli.

"Well? Tell me? What's your last name? Can't be that bad!"

'You have no idea.' He thought.

"Grr... you're pissing me off."

"The feelings are mutual." Shinn retorted as he reached the gate and looked at the guards. "Excuse me, gentlemen. May I pass out of your 'fine' city this afternoon?" Shinn inquired as the guards looked him up and down.

"You know that we're facing a 'dark threat' in these times and that it may be dangerous to venture out into the fields alone, right?" One of the guards asked.

"A risk I'm willing to take. I come to Ono'goro and leave on a daily basis. It's just this is my first time taking this exit."

"Alright then, sir. Enjoy the Sun." One of the guards shook his head and motioned Shinn to pass, the red eyed boy leaving Ono'goro, passing under a thick, white brick archway that separated the areas, as Cagalli followed suit, only to be blocked as the two guards lowered their halberds down and bared her pass. "Lady Cagalli, you know you are forbidden from leaving Ono'goro aren't you?" The guard asked.

"And who was that man anyway? He's not the Prince and he's not Athrun Zala, so why were you with him?" The other guard asked as Cagalli grumbled in defeat.

"I was just having a talk with someone. And if I'm not allowed to leave then I might as well go back now. You guys are getting all tied up over nothing! What's there to fear about this darkness, anyway?" She questioned to the soldiers, while Shinn, who was still an earshot away, heard her words.

'Did she just say she wasn't afraid of the darkness? I'm sure she did...' His eyes widened. Something like that was completely unexpected, especially from the people of ORB, the Kingdom of Light. 'Is there something about her or is she just an idiot? Probably the ladder... but still...'

"Goodbye, guards!" She spoke harshly, turning around and walking away. "Can't even leave the capital! Complete nonsense! Er... if only I was a special 'Auilyet' and had powers!" She clenched her fists.

"It's for your protection, Lady Cagalli." One of the guards yelled from a distance.

'Yeah, whatever...' She thought.

* * *

Shinn's hideout, later that night:

"Alright... let's see what we got here..." He took out a detailed map of Ono'goro and laid it out on his desk. "I wasn't able to observe much with her on my tail, but regardless... hmm..." He analyzed the map and pointed to several locations. "These locations seem to be alright for setting up a spell... but I did see some people walking around, so it might not be ideal..." He pointed to another place, close to the Monastery. "With all the Paladins running around that place... not a good idea..." He looked over towards the Academy of the Arcanytim. "Although, if I practice it near this place, my spell might be masked by all the other spells going on there... yes, that's what I'll do." Shinn snickered, rolling up the map again and putting it aside as he jumped onto his bed and snapped his fingers, the one lone candle in the room dimming. "Although that Princess... even a pure Skelyet, by default, should fear the darkness. Heck, she was even interested in what I was doing for some reason... I think... in the future... I might be able to use her, perhaps?" Shinn chuckled. "Oh, King Uzumi, your daughter will be my tool for taking that which I want from your Kingdom... and there will be nothing you can do about it, not until it's too late!"


End file.
